Posted on 04/21/2015 6:06:26 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Obama administration’s decision this month to sell almost $1 billion in U.S.-made attack helicopters, missiles and other equipment to Pakistan will fuel conflict in South Asia without fulfilling the objective of helping the country fight Islamist extremists. Pakistan’s failure to tackle its jihadist challenge is not the result of a lack of arms but reflects an absence of will. Unless Pakistan changes its worldview, American weapons will end up being used to fight or menace India and perceived domestic enemies instead of being deployed against jihadists.
Competition with India remains the overriding consideration in Pakistan’s foreign and domestic policies. By aiding Pakistan over the years—some $40 billion since 1950, according to the Congressional Research Service—the U.S. has fed Pakistan’s delusion of being India’s regional military equal. Seeking security against a much larger neighbor is a rational objective but seeking parity with it on a constant basis is not.
nstead of selling more military equipment to Pakistan, U.S. officials should convince Pakistan that its ambitions of rivaling India are akin to Belgium trying to rival France or Germany. India’s population is six times as large as Pakistan’s while India’s economy is 10 times bigger, and India’s $2 trillion economy has managed consistent growth whereas Pakistan’s $245 billion economy has grown sporadically and is undermined by jihadist terrorism and domestic political chaos. Pakistan also continues to depend on Islamist ideology—through its school curricula, propaganda and Islamic legislation—to maintain internal nationalist cohesion, which inevitably encourages extremism and religious intolerance.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Why Are We Sending This Attack Helicopter to Pakistan?
That’s easy. To help America’s enemies.
And the ever-lying, ever-malicious
antiConstitutional GOP will only attack conservatives.
There are very few things about the USA that Obama likes.
One of the things he does like is the fact he can use our military and industry to arm his muslim pals.
Another is that he can screw the American taxpayer into paying for most of it.
Why? Almost a billion reasons...
Is that an Apache?
The first question to answer is WHERE is it built in the US?
No shit ...... 14 months ? ..... y'don't say ...... how 'bout THAT ..........
AH-1Z Viper
http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en_US/Military/AH-1Z/1291148375494.html#/?tab=highlights-tab
A modernization of the Cobra.
Brilliant.
The only thing that keeps Pakistan in one piece is its military, and it’s one of the few institutions in the country that has widespread support.
Lots of interest in Pakistan Poppies .Yesterdays headline:
China Set to Announce $46bn Investment in Pakistan.
China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to announce $46bn of investment in Pakistan, centered around the construction of a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The planned investment includes 3000 km (1865 mi) in roads, railways and pipelines. Also included are $15bn in coal and alternative energy projects, and a $44m fiber optic cable.
The planned investment of $46bn is more than double the total direct foreign investment in Pakistan since 2008.
The investment promises to stimulate the economies of both Pakistan and China.
The deal would give China direct access to the Indian Ocean and maritime trade routes, representing the country’s growing influence in the region.
Assembly of first AH-1Z begun at Hurst, Texas, in April 1999, by which time 85% of drawings had been released, with design work due for completion by end of 1999. Initial AH-1Z (162549, c/n 59001) completed final assembly in second quarter of 2000 and moved to Bell Flight Research Center at Arlington, Texas, for installation of instrumentation and functional testing that included restrained ground running which was completed in October 2000.
http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/bell_supercobra.php
Texas, I think. This deal is in competition with a similar deal that Pakistan was considering with Russia. Some things have little to do with Obama.
Thanks.
Why send them to Pakistan?
Because giving them directly to China might still raise an eyebrow in the media.
I couldn’t find a more recent discussion of assembly, so probably still there.
What you wanna bet we will see ISIS flying those over U.S. soil in the near future?
Won’t be ISIS (per se) flying them.
Won’t be in the near future.
I’ve been to that plant. If I’m not, mistaken but don’t quote me on this, they
“sell” a lot of their surplus inventory / parts to a holding party so they don’t have to pay taxes on it then rebuy it back layer during the year at a significsntly reduced rate. It saves them millions in taxes.
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