I don't know you, but it's an honor to know you, ya know ?
Posted on 04/03/2005 1:30:17 PM PDT by IAF ThunderPilot
Although I understand the point you're trying to make, you grossly underestimate the Israeli "investment" in these weapons systems.
Let's not quibble over such terminology/syntax. Given, purchased, purchased at a discount and tweaked.....who cares. We see to it that the best friend we have in the Middle East (and not to mention......God's chosen people) are well armed and well prepared; so much so that NO Arab country would DARE invade them again. They'd get their Muslim arses seriously handed to them on a platter.
I'm proud that my country is such a staunch ally of Israel, and I'm prouder still that we'll stand by them to the end.
They should be using them to kill islams 24/7.
Thanks for the pings bro...nothing supports Peace like a strong DEFENSE!!
My point is, if you want to know what ingratitude looks like look at the 3 billion Egypt gets or the military support, in $ and lives, we give to France, Germany and Spain via NATO. When you call them out for criticism I will consider your points on Israel.
Further, saying Israel makes "improvements" has nothing to do with ingratitude even if it offends your pride. If it is accurate then it is not even boasting. I don't know enough about the specific weapon system, but I know that generally speaking Israel often makes improvements which it then passes back to the US. That is a symbiotic relationship of allies and ought not be a source of anger or resentment.
In a nutshell that was Secretary Schultz's plan for Israel.
Buy American!
So, Israel can destroy the Abrams tanks the US gives to Egyt and Jordan?
Sweeetttt
You missed out Saudi Arabia & Kuwait.The Kuwaiti variant is among the most sophisticated in the world.
Dude,Israel has probably contributed more military systems to the US than any other nation in the past 40 years.American fighters are converting to a helmet mounted cueing system which has input from Israel(which pioneered such systems).All 3 American services use Israeli expertise in electronic warfare,countermeasures & surveillance.The US army's Bradleys & Humvees are using a range of passive & active defensive systems including Explosive reactive armour sourced from Israel.You can't imagine the scores of lives that ERA has saved.By sourcing from Israel,the US has saved billions from research & investment in several technologies.That to me is more than compensatory for the military aid Israel recieves.
"......as it comes equipped with a night-vision system that transfers images directly to the pilot's eyes, a senior IAF officer said."
Okay they mean onto a screen of some kind right???? They have not figure out how to project an image as if in real time looking out the eyes have they???/
Good thing, Israel is going to need them. Now that Russian shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles are in the terrorist's hands, I hope they get a lot more that five.
United with Israel
MississippyMuddy,
I like the way my fellow Southerner preaches....you are right on! Greetings from Virginia!
If they give me the PC, I'll thank them.
As SJackson can attest, I am not anti-Israel in the least. However, I feel a real urge to respond to the Israeli technology-hubris expressed above, a couple things HAVE to be pointed out: A lot of that "Israeli-developed" technology are actually U.S.-derived variants, and based on U.S.-funded R&D, and the IDF frequently uses and benefits from the U.S. SUBSIDIES to Israel to afford these wonderful systems...which our DOD is too cheap to give our own forces. E.g., just a couple small examples. We paid 70% of the cost of the Arrow II. We paid for essentially ALL the cost of the TRW Laser missile/artillery defense system...and supplied the base technology and know-how. We taught Israel about AWACs technology, and then your company turned around and tried to sell it to the Chinese.
I don't begrudge Israel staying safe with our state-of-the-art. But the anti-U.S. technology 'dig' is frankly a little bit too much like biting the hand that feeds you.
Put the shoe on the other foot: When is Israel ever going to repay the U.S. for the countless favors, both monetary and defense deployments, subsidize the U.S. government and expressly, help its Airforce and Army update FINANCIALLY? You and I know it will never happen. So knock off the one-upping stuff.
Stay strong. Stay Alert. But keep humble. It never hurts.
Yehuda, that is the very chip-on-shoulder thing Last Dakotan was talking about. You really don't have an appreciation, as Isaac Newton did when he laid out his formulas...that he stood on the shoulders of giants. The chip wasn't "Israel" it was IBM's developed chip. Gave their Israeli lab something to do.
The fact is also, that many of the "Israeli's" in these labs are actually U.S. citizens either now or formerly.
Touche'! They really don't get it. This recent Israeli techno-hubris is something which seems to be spreading across a large segment of their society, and the American extended Israeli-support community. Anecdotally, I attended a very nicely done lecture on the Israeli Mideast peace dillemma and the local doctor who spoke on behalf of Israel basically regurgitated the same laundry-list of techno-claims for Israeli-origin... Sigh.
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