Thread: Iraq to buy F-16's

Originally Posted by nebula82

What about helicopters, transport & cargo aircraft? I would have thought they would be given more priority than fighters at this stage.

Those types were actually the first units added to the new Iraqi Air Force:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_A...raft_inventory

Originally Posted by nebula82

Well it’s right that Iran poses a long-term threat to Iraq, as their interest is to have a weak Iraq but the US will still maintain a strong presence in the country after the withdrawal so I don't think the Iraqis should worry about Iranian jets coming over to attack.

Agreed, if nothing else, there'll be a Carrier Strike Group in the neighborhood playing good cop/bad cop.

Originally Posted by tinymarae

The Gorkhy jokes never get old

Never have, never will )

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Here's a thought that'll just piss off LockMart and their bought Congressional whores to no end: Instead of brand spanking new very expensive F-16's, why not start out the Iraqi Air Force with a "cadre squadron" or 2 of F-16's culled from AMARG?

This would be far cheaper for Iraq and allow them to start out with a solid, capable aircraft without paying an arm and a leg for the latest, fanciest stuff.

After the first couple of squadrons are trained up and the kinks worked out (and if Iraq can afford it), those pilots can transition to new-build C and D models.

That's actually a really good idea; it would get Iraqi F-16's in the air a lot sooner than having to wait for their Block 60 production to ramp-up (I think there's a back-log on F-16's right now anyway), and just about the time they get the old A's figured out, they can start taking delivery on their brand-new Block 60's.

Awesome!!!!

Iraqi military buying F-16, Abrams, and all these cool gadgets etc, etc, etc.
An American-trained and backed Iraqi force.

Finally, US invasion in Iraq is paying dividend by making mesapotamia a US defacto proxy.

.... and I thought it was all about saving the poor Iraqi from the Czar Saddam the Terrible.

I did not see that one coming ...

Originally Posted by xerxes

Awesome!!!!

Iraqi military buying F-16, Abrams, and all these cool gadgets etc, etc, etc.
An American-trained and backed Iraqi force.

Finally, US invasion in Iraq is paying dividend by making mesapotamia a US defacto proxy.

.... and I thought it was all about saving the poor Iraqi from the Czar Saddam the Terrible.

I did not see that one coming ...

Yeah. Arms sales will easily compensate for the cost of the Iraq War.

In whose imagination? Yours or the nearest Code Pink idiot?

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Yeah. Arms sales will easily compensate for the cost of the Iraq War.

In whose imagination? Yours or the nearest Code Pink idiot?

Ehhh .. Not in mine, since I did not say that ... You are jumping at conclusions.

I was talking about their current influence, today's presence in Iraq, and the establish permenant presence being the dividend and the return on the investment.

I hope that you do not think that, the return on the investment is seeing an Iraq free of Saddam. Certainly that is great and romantic. But one does not mobilize a force 130,000 for the good of god-forsaken country. I hope you are not imagining that. If you do so, you are going against 5,000 years of human histoy of war that says wars are not fought for the good of the invaded nations.

So, what does compensate for the cost of the Iraq War for the US Government, in your view, if it is not the US establishement in Iraq?

I'm guessing you were being sarcastic then?

Originally Posted by TopHatter

I'm guessing you were being sarcastic then?

Not sarcastic .. but lets just say I did not write it very well.

I was not talking about the actual purchase of the military hardware paying the bills for the war. The Chinese life savings paid for the war. )