A dear friend of mine is vaguely insisting that we must have F-22's -saying things like
Oh...if you knew what I knew, you'd keep those F-22's
and
It's just not that simple
and
please just talk to USAF people about this
This person is a friend and someone I respect, but they are not giving me much to work with.
We were having a FB debate and I commented that I was conflicted on the Defense Bill that included the additional F-22's and now has the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill.
This turned into a big discussion of if the F-22 was needed -
I referenced this NPR piece from morning edition -
Leading the fight against the F-22 jets is the man who lost to Obama last November. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he understands that many workers' jobs are at stake: "Our sympathy is with them. We will do everything we can to provide job opportunities, including in the defense industries across this country. But we cannot argue that we should spend taxpayers' dollars for weapons systems simply to create or keep jobs."
Besides, McCain says,"this plane has never been flown over Iraq or Afghanistan — it's never been part of the two wars that we've been in."
And, as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) notes, even President Bush was unable to stop production of the F-22. "Two administrations now have made an effort to end the F-22 line," Levin says. "This is not a partisan issue; this is a Republican and a Democratic administration that have made this effort."
I quoted the Op-ed in the Washington Post by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartzsay who concluded their piece by saying
We support the final four F-22s proposed in the fiscal 2009 supplemental request, as this will aid the long-term viability of the F-22 fleet. But the time has come to close out production. That is why we do not recommend that F-22s be included in the fiscal 2010 defense budget.
Make no mistake: Air dominance remains an essential capability for joint warfighting. The F-22 is a vital tool in the military's arsenal and will remain in our inventory for decades to come. But the time has come to move on.
I was then told to go talk to some USAF folk because it is just not that simple.
I did some research and found this article that states that we need the F-22 for a preemptive strike against Iran should it become necessary.
Again I was told my opinion only counted if I could talk to some USAF folk. Well I don't know any, but I figure there must be someone on this site that can tell me what I am missing.