Friday May 6, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

Sometimes I cannot figure out how the United States decides to give support and military assistance.

For example:
This week The United Arab Emirates received 80 F-16 "Block 60" fighter jets from the US. They paid $6.4 billion for the machinery. The deal dates back to the spring of 2000.
There was no US sponsored announcement of the delivery, but it was covered in the local UAE paper.

The "Block 60" is an entirely new generation of fighter plane.
The "Block 60" is far superior to the "Block 50" that Israel has.
The "Block 60" has superior computer and radar tracking systems.
The "Block 60" can track multiple targets.

This is the first time in history that Israel's military qualitative edge has been challenged by United States supplies.
Never before has any Arab state had military capability that was newer or superior to Israel's.

The US rationale was that the UAE argued that they needed to defend themselves from threats like those from Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
Abu Dhabi is safer today.

I hope the result of this new US policy will be a safe region.