The F-35 Critics vs. the Facts

American Thinker.com ^ | July 4, 2017 | Chet Richards

[zeestephen]

Re: As I recall, you can’t reach a $100,000 pay check until you get promoted to general.

Thanks for the update.

I see that a L.C. now tops out at $108,000.

And, a full colonel starts around $120,000.

I have a college friend who retired about 10 years ago as a full colonel with 30 years of service (Air Force - Intelligence).

As I recall, his pay ceiling was under $100,000.

I also recall, perhaps mistakenly, that officers used to be paid for the length of time at their grade, not their length of service.

[zeestephen]

Thanks for the comments, Red.

My “8 month” comment was specifically about Raqqa, in Syria, because I don't think the USA should be doing anything in Syria, except target ISIS and Al Qaeda leadership with drones and carrier aircraft.

I think Trump's cruise missile attack on Assad was bizarre.

Virtually all the public evidence for Assad's alleged chemical attacks can be sourced to anti-Assad organizations.

I agree with all your sentiments about recent USA involvement in the Middle East.

However, I did support the USA involvement by G.H.W. Bush in 1990 after Saddam invaded Kuwait.

I am also a life long Friend of Israel, and I would have no problem with the USA killing Palestinian leaders and destroying Hezbollah's 40,000 missiles in Lebanon.

[Redmen4ever]

No problem, zee.

Regarding doing nothing in Syria, etc. I don’t think Trump can go back in time and make that happen. He basically has to play the hand he inherited from his predecessors.

But, moving forward, doing nothing seems usually to be the winning idea.

[jpsb]

One plane to fulfill multiple roles? We should have learned our lesson with the F-111. The F-35 is a very expensive pig, we better hang on too our A10s’, F22s’, F15s’ and F18s’.