U.S. Halts Fighter Jet Delivery To Egypt In Signal of Disapproval

[ProSense]

U.S. Halts Fighter Jet Delivery To Egypt In Signal of Disapproval

The Pentagon on Wednesday halted the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt as President Barack Obama seeks to impress on the Egyptian military that the United States is unhappy with its handling of the political turmoil in that country, the New York Times reported.

“Given the current situation in Egypt, we do not believe it is appropriate to move forward at this time with the delivery of F-16s,” said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, as quoted by the Times.

"We’ve been very clear with the military: we understand this is a difficult situation but we want things to get back on track,” an anonymous White House official told the Times, while an unnamed Pentagon official described the move as an "inside fastball."

Following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, U.S. officials had said they did not plan to change the fighter jet shipment.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/us-halts-fighter-jet-delivery-to-egypt-in

[bobclark86]

1. They'll just have to make due...

with 240 of them... They're the world's fourth-largest operator of the F-16.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Air_Force

[PCIntern]

2. They had a huge airforce during the 67 war

for about five minutes...

[bobclark86]

4. They did...

of random old Russian and French crap. Most of their gear now is American. Ask the Israelis how it's working for them.

[PCIntern]

7. Not to worry...

it is taken care of, believe me.

[ShadowLiberal]

3. Why are we even giving them fight jets in the first place?

If foreign aid is about helping poor and needy people in other countries, shouldn't we be sending cash or food, rather than things only the military can use?

[bobclark86]

5. We weren't giving them shit.

They bought and paid for those bad boys. Like the 240 others they already bought. If anything, we're pissed they didn't suck their dictator's dick any more. Then, when we were happy they were being all democratic and shit, they elected the Muslim Brotherhood. Then, when we got pissed, they ditched them and their new cabinet has a bunch of moderates, women and Coptics (that's a very, very old branch of Christianity which predates the Catholic Church). NOW we're pissed again for some unknown reason. Pretty sure our government's just going to stay pissed until they either become a colony of us or Israel.

[cali]

6. huh? you think foreign aid is about helping poor and needy people?

It is not and never has been. Military aid is the largest chunk of U.S. foreign aid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_aid