Remember when President Obama used the servicemen and women at Elmendorf Air Force Base as photo-op props?
Remember when President Obama admitted it?
Well, it seems there was one prop that President Obama DIDN'T want in the background:
When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hangar. But according to multiple sources, White House aides demanded the plane be changed to an older F-15 fighter because they didn't want Obama speaking in front of the F-22, a controversial program he fought hard to end.
"White House aides actually made them remove the F-22-said they would not allow POTUS to be pictured with the F-22 in any way, shape, or form," one source close to the unit relayed.
Source: Foreign Policy
Why on Earth would the president have such a bug up his ass about a fighter plane? After all, this photo-op took place during the height of Obama's dithering on Afghanistan. The purpose of the speech was to show this weak, dithering bureaucrat as a strong leader... If you can imagine anyone actually believing that canard.
You see, our president has a bit of a history with the F-22:
The Obama administration fought hard and successfully to cut off production of the F-22 at 187 planes, a number Defense Secretary Robert Gates endorsed but that was hundreds less than originally planned and about half of the 381 planes Air Force leadership lobbied hard for in the years preceding Obama's inauguration.
Source: Foreign Policy
Why has President Obama targeted the F-22? Because it is a symbol of America's victory in the Cold War, perhaps?
Originally designed to fight Soviet jets, the F-22 is seen by its critics as a relic of a bygone era. Or as Obama put it, the US should not keep "paying for cold war-era weapons systems we don't use."
Not so fast, say F-22 defenders. Yes, the military's tasks in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are not traditional warfare and do reflect a new era of nonstate fighters. But how will the US win a war with, say, China over Taiwan, or with Russia if it again invades a neighbor like Georgia? Who's to say what war might look like in 20 years? And some weapons, like the F-22, may do their job simply by deterrence rather than actual use.
Source: CSMonitor
Deterrence... the key to fighting and winning the cold war. Deterrence... a byproduct of strength and respect - two things President Obama - the man who drops to his knees at the sight of figurehead leaders and tyrants - knows nothing about.
Hell, he doesn't even believe in the concept of military victory.
And if you need more proof that President Obama would like to dismantle the American military, check this out:
