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Beta6
Commander
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 475
Location: ~*City Of Angels*~
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 Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:16 pm U.S. to Sell F-16 Jets to Pakistan |
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| Quote: | U.S. to Sell F-16 Jets to Pakistan
1 hour, 3 minutes ago
Add to My Yahoo! White House - AP
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The United States has agreed to sell about two dozen sophisticated F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan, a diplomatically sensitive move that rewards Pakistan for its help in fighting the war on terror, but has angered next-door rival India.
Photo
AP Photo
AP Photo Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow Slideshow: Pakistan
President Bush (news - web sites), who is spending holiday time at his Texas ranch, spoke on the phone Friday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who told Bush of his "great disappointment" over the decision, Sanjaya Baru, the prime minister's spokesman said.
Singh said that sales to Pakistan would endanger security in the region, Baru said. New Delhi is worried that arming Pakistan with the advanced jet fighters would tilt the military balance in South Asia and could adversely affect the ongoing peace dialogue between India and Pakistan.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, linked the proposed sales of the planes, manufactured by Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin, directly to Musharraf's cooperation after the terror attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
The sale of F-16s will not change the overall balance of military power in the region and are vital to Pakistan's security as Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff prosecutes the war on terror, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Officials at the State Department, explaining the decision further, but only on the basis of anonymity, said India is contemplating a very large purchase of fighter planes, but added that it is up to India to decide which country it will purchase them from.
The United States has told India that American defense companies would be allowed to bid for the multi-role combat aircraft that India wants to buy, Navtej Sarna, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman, told reporters in New Delhi. A group from the United States is expected in India shortly for discussions.
At a defense seminar in Bangalore, India, the nation's air force chief said the U.S.-built F-16 and France's Mirage jet fighters are among the warplanes India is considering for a purchase of 126 new aircraft. In addition to the Lockheed Martin F-16 and Dassault Aviation's Mirage, New Delhi is also eyeing the Swedish-made Gripen fighter and the Russian MiG range, made by Mikoyan-Gurevich, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi said.
The State Department officials also said the United States is weighing an expansion of its strategic partnership with India, with cooperation on a range of economic, commercial and security issues, including missile defense. The goal is helping India become a major world power.
Pakistan's information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, hailed the administration's decision as a "good gesture by the United States" and said the transaction would ease anti-American sentiment in the Islamic nation.
"This will fulfill our defense requirements," he said. "We had been lagging behind (India) in conventional weapons. This will improve the situation."
The sales to two nuclear countries that have warred over the Kashmir (news - web sites) territory could raise eyebrows among U.S. allies in Europe who are under White House pressure not to lift an arms embargo on China. The administration argues that European weapons could contribute to rising tensions between Beijing and Taiwan.
Pakistan struck a deal with the United States to buy the nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets in the late 1980s, but the agreement was scrapped in the 1990s when Washington imposed sanctions on Islamabad over its nuclear weapons program. Since then, Islamabad, which had paid in advance for the F-16s, has been pressuring Washington to supply the rest of the planes.
The United States had signed a separate $1.3 billion arms package to Pakistan last year.
India had voiced its opposition to the resumption of supply of F-16s to Pakistan during talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) when she made a whistle-stop tour of South Asia last week. |
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:25 pm |
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There are many different versions of the F-16, lettered A-M (or maybe higher). The last I checked, C/D is most sophisticated one the US sells to anyone besides Isreal.
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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Beta6
Commander
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 475
Location: ~*City Of Angels*~
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| Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:35 pm |
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I don't know if I like this idea yet.. I'm still thinking about it. I do, because I appreciate their help, But then.. I don't like giving them our jets. I'll go have a smoke and decide if i like it or not. lol
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:25 pm |
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| Beta6 wrote: | | I don't know if I like this idea yet.. I'm still thinking about it. I do, because I appreciate their help, But then.. I don't like giving them our jets. I'll go have a smoke and decide if i like it or not. lol |
It's not like they could use them against us. Pakistan is little short on aircraft carriers or bases in, say, the western HEMISPHERE. 
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 2:33 am |
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| webtaz99 wrote: | | Beta6 wrote: | | I don't know if I like this idea yet.. I'm still thinking about it. I do, because I appreciate their help, But then.. I don't like giving them our jets. I'll go have a smoke and decide if i like it or not. lol |
It's not like they could use them against us. Pakistan is little short on aircraft carriers or bases in, say, the western HEMISPHERE. |
Thats why the US gives them out. But they can't do anything with them except Defence which is a good thing.
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Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will. -Michael Moore
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 2:35 am |
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Not a good thing. This can only hurt US/India relations.
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:46 pm |
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what about India/Pakistan relations?
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Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will. -Michael Moore
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 1:49 pm |
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They are already really rocky. These weapons could tip the scale in their feud. I imagine this is why India is angry about this.
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 2:00 pm |
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Couldn't blame them really, or not. i don't really know the relations between India and Pakistan.
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Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will. -Michael Moore
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 2:05 pm |
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They don't like eachother, and now they both have nuclear weapons. How crazy.
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Sat Mar 26, 2005 6:14 pm |
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From
http://www.topfighters.com/f-16_country_pakistan.php
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When Ronald Reagan became president of the United States in January of 1981, American policy suddenly changed, and the level of assistance to Pakistan increased substantially. In December of 1981, the government of Pakistan signed a letter of agreement for the purchase of 40 F-16A/B fighters for the Pakistan Fiza'ya (Pakistan Air Force, or PAF). The first aircraft were accepted at Fort Worth in October of 1982. Transition training for Pakistani aircrews and ground personnel was carried out by the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill AFB in Utah. The first two F-16As and four F-16Bs arrived in Pakistan in January of 1983.
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Pakistan has had F-16's since 1983. We are simply selling them more.
-------signature-------
"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:27 pm |
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| webtaz99 wrote: | | Beta6 wrote: | | I don't know if I like this idea yet.. I'm still thinking about it. I do, because I appreciate their help, But then.. I don't like giving them our jets. I'll go have a smoke and decide if i like it or not. lol |
It's not like they could use them against us. Pakistan is little short on aircraft carriers or bases in, say, the western HEMISPHERE. |
Could have sworn they used some in the war against Afghanistan...!
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Beta6
Commander
Joined: 02 Jan 2005
Posts: 475
Location: ~*City Of Angels*~
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| Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:50 pm |
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| Dirt wrote: | | webtaz99 wrote: | | Beta6 wrote: | | I don't know if I like this idea yet.. I'm still thinking about it. I do, because I appreciate their help, But then.. I don't like giving them our jets. I'll go have a smoke and decide if i like it or not. lol |
It's not like they could use them against us. Pakistan is little short on aircraft carriers or bases in, say, the western HEMISPHERE. |
Could have sworn they used some in the war against Afghanistan...! |
don't worry dirt, everyone in here seems to think they know everything!
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webtaz99
Commodore
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Posts: 1229
Location: The Other Side
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| Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:51 pm |
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| Dirt wrote: | | webtaz99 wrote: | | Beta6 wrote: | | I don't know if I like this idea yet.. I'm still thinking about it. I do, because I appreciate their help, But then.. I don't like giving them our jets. I'll go have a smoke and decide if i like it or not. lol |
It's not like they could use them against us. Pakistan is little short on aircraft carriers or bases in, say, the western HEMISPHERE. |
Could have sworn they used some in the war against Afghanistan...! |
Pakistan was on our side in Afghanistan.
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:55 pm |
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They=U.S + Coalition Forces. 
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