Afghans Ask Neighbors to Return Warplanes

[Tab]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Twenty-one years ago, Capt. Mohammed Nabi Karinzai pulled down his visor and roared down the runway in his Soviet-made Su-7 jet for the last time — not for a bombing run against Afghan mujahedeen, but for a dangerous sprint into Western exile.

Karinzai, now in the United States, never returned since that daring flight from then-communist Afghanistan to neighboring Pakistan, except for a brief incursion as part of a guerrilla unit fighting Soviet occupiers in 1984.

But with a new government in Kabul trying to rebuild the country and its defenses after more than two decades of warfare — this time with American rather than Soviet assistance — Afghanistan is finally asking for its planes back.

In all, the Afghan Defense Ministry is seeking the return of 26 aircraft — nine helicopters, five bombers, eight fighters, two trainer jets and two transporters. Officials say 19 are in Pakistan and another seven in Uzbekistan.
More: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=6&u=/ap/20050111/ap_on_re_as/afghan_lost_planes

[NYC]

1. 21 year old planes.

?

[Sir Craig]

2. Why not?

If Afghanistan wants to rebuild its military, 21-year old aircraft are not such a bad thing (if properly maintained).

Our own Air Force has aircraft that are nearly 50 years old and are still flying fine (give or take) because of the maintenance performed on them. And don't forget: A large percentage of our own F-15s are older than 21 years.