Bush entrusts key military hardware to the French!

I must admit I am surprised that this happened:

Northrop and EADS Win Tanker Deal

In a surprising reversal for the Boeing Company, the Pentagon on Friday awarded a multibillion-dollar contract for refueling tankers to a partnership between Northrop Grumman and EADS, the European parent of Airbus.

The deal, which puts a critical United States military contract into the hands of foreigners, at least in part, calls for spending up to $40 billion on the first phase of a multidecade program to replace the nation’s aging aerial tanker fleet, which dates back to the Kennedy and Eisenhower era.

Is anyone questioning Bush's patriotism yet?

It's not a silly decision per se - the recently designed Airbus A330 planes are probably better, in this instance, than the available Boeing ones (the aging 767), and they are going to be built in Alabama and Mississippi (smart lobbying there by Airbus), and Northop's presence in the consortium ensures that a US company leads the work, but still... it's a French plane!

I'm really surprised. And I'm curious to see if there's any political mileage to be made out of it.

•  Tip Jar - 29 February

  Now that's a memorable date!

  by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 02:55:57 PM PDT

  •  In another interesting development

    Washington reconnaît l'"autonomie" et l'"indépendance" de la défense européenne

    Est-on à quelques mois d'un "printemps" transatlantique ? Alors qu'à Paris un processus diplomatique se poursuit pour permettre à la France de reprendre "toute sa place" au sein de l'Alliance atlantique, Washington vient d'adresser un message très positif au gouvernement français pour lui indiquer que les Etats-Unis ont abandonné leurs préventions s'agissant de la montée en puissance de la défense européenne.

    Or c'est là la principale exigence formulée par le président Nicolas Sarkozy pour envisager un retour de la France dans la structure militaire intégrée de l'OTAN, que Paris a quittée en mars 1966.

    Ce message a pris la forme d'une intervention de l'ambassadeur des Etats-Unis auprès de l'Alliance, Victoria Nuland, qui s'est exprimée à Paris et à Londres, vendredi 22 et lundi 25 février. En substance, les Etats-Unis reconnaissent que l'Europe doit pouvoir "agir de manière indépendante", en préservant son "autonomie" de décision.

    Ce ton tranche nettement avec le discours antérieur des responsables américains qui insistaient systématiquement sur le risque d'une "duplication" entre les moyens existants de l'OTAN et les ambitions de la politique européenne de sécurité et de défense (PESD).

    I have not seen any articles in English about this, but this is seen as highly significant: the US is apparently dropping its hostility to the EU having its own planning and coordination military unit. Previously, this had been seen as a threat- a duplicate to NATO's existing capabilities.

    What's more interesting is that the US Ambassador conveyed that message to both France and the UK, suggesting that the UK is "authorised" to drop its hostility to doing more on defense within the EU. With France and the UK the two main military powers within the EU, this could open the way to more joint policies in the field.

    The quid pro quo, of course, is France reintegrating NATO's integrated command, as has been announced by Sarkozy.

    by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:04:25 PM PDT

    •  Ahhh, it's a BRIBE to France.

      What else are we going to outsource?

      by polecat on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:07:09 PM PDT

      •  Of course, before you bribe someone it's prudent

        to consider the possibility that the happy recipient will pocket the money, give you the finger, and screw you over.

        by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:10:14 PM PDT

        •  Sounds familiar.

          Seriously, though.  It sounds like a NATO kumbaya kind of deal that Sarkozy required to play along.

          by polecat on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:15:16 PM PDT

          •  I get the feeling

            that NATO is an alliance in name only right now; we Europeans seem to have discovered that we are better able to look after our own defence without being constantly nagged about sending soldiers to die in far-away places.

            by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:17:34 PM PDT

            •  Canadians are Europeans now are they?

              Canada has been bleeding in the south of Afghanistan while assorted European cantingents refuse to budge out of the north.  Most of the bleeding has been dne by native English speakers, and the Frech speakers have Quebecois accent.  

              All my adult life I've been hearing American politicians 'nagging' Europeans for ponying up more than 1.5-2% of their national GNP for defense.  Now all of a sudden y'all don't need us N. Americans for defense?  Now your politicians are eager to triple their defense budgets?  

              I'm not so sure.

              by Quicklund on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:59:49 PM PDT

    •  Yep - France's reintegration into the combined

      military command is a small price to pay for this.

      by Shane Hensinger on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:11:59 PM PDT

  •  Freedom Fuelers!

    "Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Effort, Concentration, and Wisdom"

    by Dood Abides on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:06:55 PM PDT

  •  Jerome......

    when are you going to start your $200 a barrel oil diaries?

    Keep up the great work. Just quit looking at my girl!!

    Rick

    by rickeagle on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:08:25 PM PDT

  •  Vive la France! nt

    by ExStr8 on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:09:25 PM PDT

    •  All your base are belong to France?

      (note: Very geeky joke)

      by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:11:22 PM PDT

  •  We want "freedom flies"

    Down with surrender bus!

    by Crestingwave on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:45:03 PM PDT

•  Oh noes....what will O'Reilly and Limbaugh

  have to say about this? Bush is working with 'terrorist sympathizers'...someone invaded his brain! Oh noes, Mr. Bill!!!

  Nice!!! Thanks Jerome...made me smile to think of right wing heads exploding!

  by SallyCat on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 02:59:42 PM PDT

  •  Beautiful comment! I'm gonna go wait by my radio.

    crickets.......

    chirping........

    by rickeagle on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:06:40 PM PDT

  •  Apparently Bush didn't get

    O'Reilly's memo. The boycott is still on.

    by Crestingwave on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:46:35 PM PDT

  •  I think it will be okay to eat French Fries again

    if we can still afford 'em.

    The market tanked today.

    Might have been nice to have our government keep our tax dollars going towards jobs and commerce in this country.  Don't ya just love the global market place?

    by inclusiveheart on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:49:38 PM PDT

•  When will he outsource

  the presidency?

  oh wait.. cheney... pfff...

  by amsterdem on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:02:12 PM PDT

  •  Dubai nt

    by Gooserock on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:02:32 PM PDT

•  Cheers to Freedom Tankers !! nt

  by Gooserock on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:02:17 PM PDT

•  call it

  freedom flies!

  by Turkana on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:03:11 PM PDT

  •  Like Icarus. n/t

    by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:10:40 PM PDT

    •  well...

      if the planes don't work, it's france's fault. if they do, it's good old fashioned american ingenuity!

      by Turkana on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:14:55 PM PDT

      •  And you can tell that engineering is

        impeccable if they break down less than a week after the warranty expires.

        by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:15:59 PM PDT

•  Serves Boeing Right

  After that dirty "leasing" deal they tried to slip through, they deserve this.

  by The Baculum King on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:03:12 PM PDT

•  ahh...

  more American dollars shipped overseas. So much for supporting economic growth in the US.

  by Thomas McMillan on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:04:22 PM PDT

•  meh, nothing to be proud of

  if anything, it just draws attention to the fact that france is one of the biggest arms dealers on the planet.

  too bad the airbus workers in  mississippi won't be getting french-style labor contracts.

  by wu ming on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:04:27 PM PDT

  •  additionally,

    having friends who worked for boeing in the software division, it's probably better to give the contract to the french. the company's the sort of basketcase that one would expect from a near monopoly.

    the assembly line workers no doubt do a professional job, but management is dysfunctional to an incredible degree.

    by wu ming on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:06:42 PM PDT

    •  There's something to be said for

      competing in a capitalistic market environment—bad management and lack of innovation and quality will not go unpunished for very long.

      The alternative route, namely buying up politicians and getting specially crafted legislation to lock out your rivals and huge government subsidies to produce products of variable quality, usually way late and over budget, is sure to promote a flourishing company culture of dysfunctional management  and tolerance for corrupt practices. Once you as a company get on that train it becomes awfully difficult to get off and be competitive on your own merits again. It's why cutting the so-called defense budget or ending agricultural subsidies are treated as unthinkable concepts by the corporate media, since many of the companies that own the media conglomerates are addicted to government dollars.

      by glaser on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 11:54:21 PM PDT

  •  military planes, nuclear reactors and cognac

    all available for friends and bribes!

    by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:11:55 PM PDT

    •  i'll take the cognac

      the french work week and a french health care plan, while i'm at it.

      by wu ming on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:17:03 PM PDT

      •  Psst: And the paid holidays!

        by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:18:41 PM PDT

        •  OMG yes, how could i forget?

          and the walkable city design, cheese and public transit, now that i think of it.

          actually, it would be easier just to move france to california. yolo's kind of like provence, climate wise.

          by wu ming on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:23:25 PM PDT

•  Heh.

  Them damn French commies - everyone was bitching how their economy was too socialist to work - until they swooped in and took over the market.

  On a serious note, this is actually how these bids should be awarded in theory. In practice, each nation supports its own defence industry. Except mine. But our politicians are daft buggers, willing to buy a set of 8x8 armoured personnel carriers from the Finns instead of buying just as home-made carriers for less than half the price. Imagine how many palms had to be greased for that...

  by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:08:06 PM PDT

•  What a terrible decision

  Awful - seriously. That money should go to keep Boeing employees in Seattle in jobs.

  by Shane Hensinger on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:11:09 PM PDT

  •  Although the aeroplanes will be assembled in

    the US, which might actually mean Boeing will assemble them...?

    by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:12:13 PM PDT

    •  Dunno

      about that. Northrup is different from Boeing - maybe they'll work something out. But Boeing is very important to the Seattle and US economy, I guess Northrup is too - I'm just partial to Boeing.

      by Shane Hensinger on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:14:19 PM PDT

      •  assembly in alabama

        No Boeing loses so nothing for Seattle.

        Northrop / Airbus will assemble in alabama so no jobs for wimpy democrats in Unions and more jobs for freedom loving alabama republicans!

        by dansmith17 on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:20:49 PM PDT

    •  Not likely

      Boeing is having problems getting the Dreamliner assembly line going because it cannot get the different parts to come together at the right time. Like Airbus planes, the different sections are made in different parts of the country and even different countries including Italy and Japan. They appear to have adopted a "just in time" delivery system to the final assembly works that is failing to function properly.

      http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/...

      BTW you might like to know that parts of the new super-jumbo A380 (principally the landing gear I believe) are produced in the USA.

      by Lib Dem FoP on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:29:05 PM PDT

      •  I didn't know that. Thanks! n/t

        by Dauphin on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:30:42 PM PDT

      •  I heard

        that close to a third of Airbus planes come from US companies, and a third of Beoings comes from Europe (and in both cases big bits also come from Japan), so the headlines trade war is increasingly silly.

        For instance, the new 787 was designed using Dassaut Systèmes (the IT subsidiary of the French military plane maker) design software, CATIA.

        by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:34:49 PM PDT

        •  Everything is designed using CATIA

          Cars, cellphones, air planes, Frank Gehry's architecture... If you can afford it, that is.

          by foreign noise on Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 10:17:17 AM PDT

    •  no - Northrup Grummond is part of the deal.

      But it would be good - especially given the recession we are in - to keep our tax dollars here to put people to work etc.  Its the same thing with the Iraq war and reconstruction - we spend money there to blow their bridges up and then to rebuild them - while our bridges are spontaneously collapsing.

      by inclusiveheart on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:52:58 PM PDT

    •  I read somewhere that part of the planes WILL be.

      assembled in Europe, then shipped here for finishing. Sounds kinda like how the Japanese do some of their car models.

      Nothing against Europe, but I think this decision stinks, given our economy and need for jobs HERE. Oh well, with NG involved, at least we'll get some of the pie, or at least Alabama and Mississippi will...

      by Hornito on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 04:44:02 PM PDT

•  Does thie mean...

  ..that the French are no longer "surrender monkeys"?  Is it safe to eat Camembert and real Brie again?
   I wonder what the Right Wing Noise Machine will make of this - if anything.

  by drchelo on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:11:12 PM PDT

  •  Absolutely nothing.

    The French have always been our friends, just like Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia!

    by Neon Vincent on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:28:05 PM PDT

•  Undermining the dollar.

  Won't this further weaken the dollar? With Greenspans encouraging the Saudia's to uncouple from the US currancy and then a large military contract going, at least partially, to the French, it isn't going to help our situation.  

  by timethief on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:11:58 PM PDT

  •  Not really

    Plane prices are all in dollars, even for Airbus ones. Airbus has been one of the companies suffering the most in Europe from the weaker dollar, and has been looking for ways to build up its manufacturing activities in dollar-based economies. This will give it a huge opportunity to build significant industrial capacity in the US (as noted above, in Alabama and Mississippi).

    by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:16:21 PM PDT

    •  Welcome, Airbus

      We need jobs.  

      Please also bring mimolette.

      by willb48 on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:50:30 PM PDT

      •  Hate to tell you this...

        NG-EADS-Airbus brings 3500 jobs to Alabama, 75% of the assembly in France/Germany...

        Boeing - loses 44,000 jobs...

        Protests to be filed on Monday...

        by doingbusinessas on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 04:04:27 PM PDT

•  Sounds like a blue state vs. red state thing

  Alabama and Mississippi are, of course, massively red states. Boeing's planes would probably be built in Washington (blue) and the Midwest (mostly blue).

  by maxomai on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:18:09 PM PDT

•  Why do you say Bush?

  Do you think the President in the US is responsible for awarding military contracts? You really need to brush up on the way government works in the United States Jerome.

  by Shane Hensinger on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:19:37 PM PDT

  •  You sound really bitter

    I had nothing to do with that decision, I assure you...

    But you need to explain to me why Angela Merket found it useful to lobby Bush about that contract... because she doesn't know how government works in the US either?

    by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:32:17 PM PDT

    •  Yeah - I am

      I look forward to the next Mirage being put together by Boeing in Seattle.

      Perhaps in France, with the French version of the imperial presidency, French presidents rule like kings - awarding contracts here, ordering French companies to fire this director there - but in the US these decisions are made (or should be, or used to be made) on the basis of which company can do the job the best.

      Still, I can imagine the screams from the French, including yourself, if a multi-billion dollar contract for strategic military equipment were to be awarded to les Americains. Scandale!

      by Shane Hensinger on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:36:42 PM PDT

      •  Heh

        these decisions are made (or should be, or used to be made) on the basis of which company can do the job the best.

        You know, on that particular criteria, there is little doubt for anyone that the A330 is a lot better than the B767.

        But as a matter of fact, I agree with you that there is a strong case to be made that strategic military hardware should remain under national control.

        This control just goes to show how much Boeing tried to fleece the US taxpayer in the previous round, and how much illwill that generated. And EADS did the right moves by teaming up with a strong local company, committing to local manufacture and, I'm pretty sure, giving pretty tight guarantees on actual control of the technology to the US government.

        f a multi-billion dollar contract for strategic military equipment were to be awarded to les Americains.

        Given the market share of US military hardware in Europe (ie a pretty big one), I'm not sure that's a very smart argument to make anyway. The tit-for-tat would certainly not help US companies in the end.

        by Jerome a Paris on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:44:22 PM PDT

•  damn

  I wouldn't trust a Frenchman to walk my dog, if I had a dog.  Oh, wait, there goes Jean Paul now, with my Pomeranian.....

  I love it, Jerome, good catch.

  by flagpole on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 03:48:13 PM PDT

•  Another facet of US-French arms deals...

  ...has just been diaried by thereisnospoon.

  Bush: Buy Our Weapons or Iran will hit Paris with Nukes

  Maybe some kind of deal has been reached.

  by Neon Vincent on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 04:18:53 PM PDT

•  Does that mean its patriotic

  to call potatoes fried in trans fats "French Fries" again ?

  by california keefer on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 04:29:50 PM PDT

•  Sacre bleu!

  Ce n'est pas possible!  :-0

  Iraq Moratorium

  by One Pissed Off Liberal on Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 04:36:18 PM PDT