Bad Move? U.S. to Help Upgrade Pakistan's F-16 Fighter Jets
Erick Stakelbeck
CBN News
May 16, 2007
Question for the Bush administration: before we go ahead and upgrade Pakistan's F-16's--essentially rewarding the country for bad behavior--shouldn't we at least demand that the Musharraf government play a more active role in battling al-Qaeda and the Taliban in its notorious tribal regions?
Places that we've told you about on CBN News, like Bajaur and Waziristan? Just a thought. Of course, perhaps that's what these F-16's will be used for.
Whatever the case, Pakistan's archrival India can't be happy. Here's more, from the Times of India:
The United States has approved Pakistan's request to upgrade a squadron of its old F-16 fighters with advanced targeting equipment to enhance their precision attack capability.
The US government has formally issued permission to lockeed Martin, the makers of F-16, to install 18 sniper advanced targeting pods (ATP) in the aircrafts, officials were quoted in Islamabad as saying.
The modernisation would take two years and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) would also get the spares and training under the contract.
PAF wanted the ATP as it demonstrated exceptional performance in meeting the requirements, the report said.
Delivery of the equipments will start from next year and PAF will benefit from the sniper ATP's stability and superior imagery, allowing aircrew to perform intelligence, targeting surveillance and reconnaissance missions from extended stand off ranges, it said.
According to our good friend Bill Roggio, the Musharraf government may be on the verge of collapse.
In that event, what if hardline, anti-American (and anti-Indian) Islamists were to get a hold of those F-16's? We have to believe that the Bush administration has at least considered that ugly possibility. Don't we?
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