Typically, Obama's Alinskyite allies tried to make hay of Sarah Palin's recent remarks in Hong Kong re. the F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter. Here is what Mrs. Palin said:
"Despite the need to move men and material by air into theaters like Afghanistan, the Obama Administration sought to end production of our C-17s, the work horse of our ability to project long range power.
Despite the Air Force saying it would increase future risk, the Obama Administration successfully sought to end F-22 production – at a time when both Russia and China are acquiring large numbers of next generation fighter aircraft.
It strikes me as odd that Defense Secretary Gates is the only member of the Cabinet to be tasked with tightening his belt."Texas-4-Palin observed that Media Matters was quick to attack Palin for her remarks, and the always-hysterical Oliver Willis claimed that she "lied" about the fighter. But did the Air Force say that ending F-22 production would increase future risk?
Yes, they did:
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz has stated that 243 F-22s is the military requirement, that 187 (current total) is a "moderate to high risk..."T4P also noted that one of Schwartz's predecessors, Gen. Merrill McPeak (ret.) -an Obama supporter- wrote:
The chief of the Air Force Air Combat Command, Gen. John Corley said 381 F-22s is the required number, and that ending the program at 187 is a "high risk."
The future air combat capabilities we should build are based on the F-22, a stealthy, fast, maneuverable fighter that is unmatched by any known or projected combat aircraft. But the F-22’s production run may soon come to an end at just 187 planes, well short of establishing the fleet size we need. After all, it’s expensive, and getting more so as the number contemplated has been repeatedly reduced. In an argument they seem to think makes sense, critics say the aircraft has no worthy opponent—as if we want to create forces that do have peer competitors.T4P provides further background on the fight over the Raptor -here-.
Looks like The Killa from Wasilla was right again- and as is so-often the case these days, her critics disingenuous, misguided and just plain wrong.
Yeah, the F-22 Raptor is expensive... but it sure provides a lot better jobs than Obama's pothole-filling projects ever could... adding to our technology infrastructure/base while delivering air-superiority for decades to come.
It's surely not lost on Vladimir Putin that the USSR actually achieved military superiority on Jimmy Carter's watch, as he -like the Boy Wonder- slashed the military budget... and ten western hemisphere countries quickly fell under Soviet control.
The Russians have themselves said they are developing all sorts of new generation weaponry. Pyongyang and Tehran are now working on new ICBMs that will bring Alaska and California within range of their nuclear warheads.... while Chairman Zero cancels missile defense in-order to give "tax credits" to those have never paid taxes in their life.
Barack Obama is basically looting the Treasury, private enterprise, and the military, while running up a debt for the next three generations... all so he can lavish populist spending upon his constituency -and irreversibly expand entitlement programs- while telling the rest of us to just shut up and pay our taxes.
Thank God we've got the principled opposition of Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney -at least- calling Obama on this reckless nonsense, as he guts the greatest military the world has ever seen... in the middle of two wars and a worldwide terrorism threat.
______________________________________
Be sure to reserve your copy of
Sarah Palin's Going Rogue at Amazon today...
_____________________________________