|
|||||
SponsorsBloggers in Arms
BlogrollContinuous WavePaid to BlogReciprocating Engines
Smarter'n MeWingmen
|
Baby stepsWe’ve spent years and billions re-building Iraqi ground forces. Many millions more have gone into a reconstituted Navy. The new Iraqi air force however, is just getting going. IZAF pilots – many of them veterans of the ancien regime – want to get their hands on fast movers. Like any self-respecting fighter pilot anywhere would. But just now they’re flying Cessnas and helos:
They’re pretty darned nice Cessnas, as CWO BillT’s cockpit photo here demonstrates. And more help is on the way, according the linked USA Today article. But at least they’re flying now, and IZAF morale continues to improve with a mission tied to supporting ground forces in anti-insurgency operations. General Barzani plans to bring jets back into his stable by 2012. By that time the training and support architecture will hopefully be in place, and we can all pray that the new Iraqi air force has been thoroughly vetted and their individual loyalties firmly established. It’s one thing to give a bad guy pretending to be a good guy a rifle and LBE. It’s another thing entirely to hand him the keys to a supersonic strike fighter. |
Credo"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones "Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra" "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche "A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke "Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas "Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex Relocating?SponsorsNearly 60k hits and 130k page views per month - low rates! Advertise with Lex! For the Effort!PopularPagesTags1st Amendment afghanistan Araby army Blogging buffoonery china culture economy education Flying Friday Musings geopol GWOT Headlines History iran iraq Israel issues media Memory Lane Military Navy norks Oz pakistan people piracy politicians politics Politics and Culture pundits Russia seals sea stories silliness Small Stuff SoCal technology UAVs UK usaf usmc weapons WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better. Spam Blocked |
|||
|
Copyright © 2009 Neptunus Lex - All Rights Reserved |
|||||

Hot Mic