Posted on 08/08/2013 3:59:01 PM PDT by taildragger
The Senate has cut funding for 20 Light Air Support aircraft meant to backfill the precision fire support role for the Afghan Army once we have pulled the vast majority of manned airpower out of the Afghan theater.
(Excerpt) Read more at aviationintel.com ...
Once again, we originally accessed that country and kicked the Taliban out of power using local militias and cutting edge air combat assets, yet we leave those forces, now developed into the fledging Afghan National Army, without the game changing capability that proved effective against the Taliban in the first place. I mean really, how much worse of a strategy can we come up with?
The LAS issue was supposed to be settled after years of industry haggling and xenophobic propagandizing of one of the competitors outstanding products, and protest lawsuits over who deserved to win TWICE, only to have the Senate attempt pull a large portion of the funding for this indispensable program. We do not deserve to “win” this war, or even retreat amicably from this theater by allowing everything but winning to get in the way of actually winning. Young American men and women gave their lives and limbs for this cause, and this is how we “wrap it up.” A squandered opportunity and an American disgrace in progress for the world to see. Spend a trillion dollars in national treasure there but do not, under any circumstances, leave any insurance policy in place so that this investment will have a lasting effect. How much are 20 Tucanos? Maybe $350M? The cost of TWO F-35Bs.
If you were a Taliban fighter would you even pick up a rifle right now knowing full well that your adversary is exiting the war in months while leaving a hodgepodge local force, much of which is motivated more by a paycheck for the time being than their own tribal, ancestral, or nationalistic values, with just a shadow air combat force to back them? What the hell are we doing, and even more importantly, what the hell have we done????
Sure, we may still have multiple Predator orbits over the country at any given time, but the Predator’s soda straw field of view and limited engagement capabilities are no replacement for manned close air support assets. Especially when the forces they are supporting on the ground are nowhere near as disciplined or well-trained than the NATO forces they replace. Once again, those in power, and their misunderstanding of drone technology and their application, think that a 5,000lb powered glider with a couple of anti-tank sized missiles can replace a ground force and an actual air force. “Screw it, just throw up some Predators” seems to be the easy political foreign policy crutch of this young millennia. It may be the easy way out but it will come back to haunt us. What will we do when the FLIR tapes start leaking of Afghan units being overran by Taliban forces, or even worse, throwing down their arms and joining their aggressors as engagement is just futile? What then? Maybe we will “put more pressure on the Karzai Government?” Laughable.
I could care less if reports say that the Afghan Air Force is not yet up to the task of widespread employment of such a machine. We have built nation’s air forces from the ground up before, we can do it again. There should be no time-table for our withdrawal of manned air support assets and the message should be that the Afghans WILL have an air arm capable of consistently putting bombs on the enemy’s forehead PERIOD.
We went from putting a man in space for the first time to landing on the moon within a smaller timeframe than that of our activities in Afghanistan. The fact that we are openly admitting that we cannot train a few dozen air crew how to make a Tucano the bane of the enemy is outrageous and is clearly yet another symptom of the cancer that resides in Washington and in the Pentagon. Shameful and sad.
Even if Afghanistan ended up with 20 Tucanos, how is this even near enough airframes to fight an enemy that has kept NATO busy for a decade? Wake up Congress, fund an excess of precision air support capabilities for the Afghans so that we can one day be done with this war. If not, and the war has actually been lost before every battle has ended, than just bring our troops home immediately. Why allow one more American to lose a limb or their life over what has become a debatable, bordering on disgusting, political-military adventure.
I have said it for years, the best we can wish for in that dismal land is a feudal narco-state, ruled by a weak but fat central authority. Anything else seems impossible, especially when you look at the Senate’s asinine decision today.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/senate-strikes-super-tucanos-mi-17s-from-appropriations-bill-389041/
After reading this it is enough to make you want to puke or vote out every flippin incumbent in the Senate, what a cesspool...
This is like worrying what to supply the South Vietnamese with in 1975.
I think when we pulled out of Vietnam we left behind the 4th or 5th largest Air Force in the world.
Are they as Feckless the 100 we have now in the Senate as the Senate of 1974-1975?
Are they repeating history here...
Worse.
The Senate shouldn’t have the power to control funding. Congress has that power. Once again, spineless in the House will be confronted with something that will make him faint.
Our admirals and generals are too busy figuring out how to get their books published and score a hot babe to worry about winning a war.
Meanwhile, the RINO Twins, Graham and McCain, are spending all their time trying to get the Muslim Brotherhood back in the saddle in Egypt.
In 1972, President Thieu asked for, but did not receive, the F-4 Phantom with its massive bombload and speed that was widely used for all roles by US air services.[4] When the Vietnam People's Army (NVA) started to install anti-aircraft missiles near Khe Sanh, the VNAF lacked the radar jamming gear, and the navigational aids required to attack the missile sites.[5] The VNAF primarily flew close support as communist forces did not fly aircraft over US-held territory, so they never had the opportunity to fight MiGs or “go downtown” in heavy fighter bombers. Consequently, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was at a significant disadvantage once the US air force left Vietnam due to the lack of the bombings and air support provided by the U.S.
Basically, we left the VNAF with second-rate crap, whereas the North Vietnamese had just gotten brand-new F4 Phantom equivalents from the Soviets on credit. It was a shambles. We shackled them while we were there, then cut them off cold when we left.
Afcrapistan will fall within a year after our exit.
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