Now that the Iraqi government has forced the American military out of their country, they have embarked on a dramatic arms build-up, including the purchase of American weapons systems that could be used for offensive purposes in the future. Examples:
The Iraqis are buying 140 state-of-the-art American M1A1 combat tanks. "The Government of Iraq has purchased 140 tanks from the United States, all of which have arrived in Iraq," reports an Iraqi business website. "131 of those tanks are already in the possession of the Iraqi Army. The nine remaining tanks are in Iraq, but in U.S. possession."
The Iraqis are buying 36 advanced American F-16 fighter jets. "Israel is monitoring Iraq's rearmament program, particularly Bahgdad's acquisition of 36 Lockheed Martin F-16s, with some disquiet amid intelligence reports Iran is consolidating its influence in Iraq following the U.S. military withdrawal," reports UPI. "Baghdad ordered the F-16 Block 52 multi-role Fighting Falcon jets — enough to equip the Iraqi air force's first two fighter squadrons — in two 18-plane batches in 2011 at an estimated total cost of $7 billion."
In 2010, the Iraqis embarked on a $13 billion weapons spending spree. "Iraq is preparing to buy as much as $13 billion in American arms and military equipment, a huge order of tanks, ships and hardware that U.S. officials say shows Iraqi-U.S. military ties will be tight for years to come," reported USA Today. "'It helps to build their capabilities, first and foremost; and second, it builds our strategic relationship for the future,' said Army Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, the ranking U.S. officer responsible for training and advising Iraq forces."
smalltime said:We sell them arms because the politicians and business leaders want to make sure your children and grandchlldren have the same opportunity to go to war and fight and die like every other generation. :twisted:
jigs said:if we arm them, we should know the weaknesses of the equipment. on the planes, could be beam a signal to shut them down???
beside selling them an f-16 is not all that big of a deal when we run the f22 ....they are phasing out the f 16 in the forces to to it being out of date and less superior to what we have now
okfarmer said:. I guess you have to arm Iraq to attempt to prevent it from being taken over by the foreign forces.
:roll:
jigs said:if we arm them, we should know the weaknesses of the equipment. on the planes, could be beam a signal to shut them down???
beside selling them an f-16 is not all that big of a deal when we run the f22 ....they are phasing out the f 16 in the forces to to it being out of date and less superior to what we have now
okfarmer said:jigs said:if we arm them, we should know the weaknesses of the equipment. on the planes, could be beam a signal to shut them down???
beside selling them an f-16 is not all that big of a deal when we run the f22 ....they are phasing out the f 16 in the forces to to it being out of date and less superior to what we have now
I understand what you are saying. But there is still a part of me that thinks, wouldn't you rather face a small arms battle vs outdated modern equipment and you have to figure that someone will ship some of it to the Brotherhood or Iran.
But then again this whole mess is well.... a mess. I guess you have to arm Iraq to attempt to prevent it from being taken over by the foreign forces.
:roll:
TexasBred said:jigs said:if we arm them, we should know the weaknesses of the equipment. on the planes, could be beam a signal to shut them down???
beside selling them an f-16 is not all that big of a deal when we run the f22 ....they are phasing out the f 16 in the forces to to it being out of date and less superior to what we have now
Brother in law just retired from Lockheed after about 35 years as an engineer/chemist....asked him about this one time and he said we never selll anything that we don't have something better and what we do sell does NOT have all the weapons and systems of our planes. Now most of that time was "Before Barrack".
