TODAY’S FIGHT, YESTERDAY’S THINKING

The Algerian government, which signed a $1.3 billion armament contract with Russia in 2006 for the delivery of 34 MiG 29 fighter jets, has changed its mind. Bouteflika’s government, citing concerns over the quality of the jets, decided to return 15 of the jets supplied in 2007 and refused the receipt of the reminder of the shipment scheduled to be completed in 2008. Considering its evolving military relationships with the U.S., it is conceivable that Algeria is eying the U.S. as a supplier of its military hardware.  

Morocco, not to be outdone, has also decided to go shopping for war toys. The Moroccan government is buying 24 F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin (the Toys”Я”Us for warmongers) of Bethesda, MD. The contract is valued at $2.4 billion, a U.S. Department of Defense official stated. The deal requires congressional approval. Congress of course will not consent to such a deal unless LM buys them Mc Nuggets. In the world market, F-16 fighter jets cost $40 million a piece - (24 pieces of junk X $40 million = $960 million). This elaborate calculation begs the question: fin essarf (where is the change)? I think these fighter jets come with not only the sophisticated radar, missile firing systems, electronic warfare and communications systems, but also elaborate social and economic plans the success of which LM guarantees. If, after 300 years, these plans prove unsuccessful by a democratic vote of the Moroccan population, we will get our money back (minus all expenses.)

Morocco’s purchase of 24 measly F-16 fighter jets is yet another example of a deleterious and uninformed decision making process our country has been plagued with for decades. LM is liquidating its F-16 stock because it needs to concentrate on the F-35 which the DoD, its number one customer, designated as a Joint Striker Fighter because it will be used by the Air Force, the Navy, and the Marines. The F-35 is a level of performance and capability the rest of the world can only dream of; in addition to been much faster and operating with significantly upgraded software and hardware, the F-35 will feature radar that the F-16 will not detect.  

Considering the rest of the world is still using F-16s (or worse, MiG-29s), the U.S. is thus, militarily, but with a strategic flair, paving the way to reinforce its hegemony. The rest of the world (you know who I mean) is the junkyard of U.S. military scrap: Turkey has 240 F-16s and is considering buying 30 more; Israel has 200; the Netherlands has 213; South Korea has 180; Greece has 140 and just ordered 30 more; Morocco is buying 24. 

Is there anything we can do with $2.4 billion to make Morocco a better place to live in? Is the well-being of the Moroccan citizen taken into consideration here? Trust me! Brain storming on this one won’t cause you profuse and rapidly changing ideas, exaggerated sexuality, and insomnia. The best weapon Morocco should invest in today is its citizens and their love for their country. The government should show its love for the people to compound their love for it. I think we need to revive this vision of spreading love and not hate. We need to shield our youths from this jaundiced ideology of extremism and murder and inculcate in them progressist and humanist principles. 

If the most imminent threat to stability in the region is Islamic integrism and terrorism as the government touts, how is an F-16 the solution? How are we going to defend ourselves against suicide bombers? Certainly not with fighter jets?  

The original developer of the F-16 was General Dynamics. In 1993, LM bought GD’s aeronautics business for  … $1.5 billion. LM revenues exceeded $12 billion in 2007. Now! That’s a good example of a competent decision making process that has foresight.

 

 

 Ahmed T. B. Copyright © 2008