F-16's for Pakistan

October 7, 2004 12:06 PM

The weapons the U.S. is sending to Pakistan are targeted against India, not the Taliban. At Pakistan's biggest arms show, a former favorite of A.Q. Khan, it was announced that the U.S. will be selling F-16s to Pakistan, possibly equipped with air-to-air missiles. It looks like Pakistan got its end of the deal for the July surprise.
posted by homunculus (10 comments total)

cute.
posted by delmoi at 12:31 PM on October 7, 2004

This is largely a continuation of the cold war pattern, right? The U.S. was Pakistan's arms supplier for 40 years, while India looked to the Soviets and European countries.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:35 PM on October 7, 2004

You this is new, do you? It's not; not by about 21 years according to this site about the Pakistan Air Force.
posted by alumshubby at 1:01 PM on October 7, 2004

Coalition of the Bribed, Bullied & Blind (which doesn't even mention Pakistan's dirty deals).
posted by amberglow at 1:10 PM on October 7, 2004

You this is new, do you?

Do I think it's new? No. But I think the world has changed and that pursuing a good relationship with India should be one of America's top priorities in foreign policy. Arming Pakistan against India now is very stupid.
posted by homunculus at 1:30 PM on October 7, 2004

This deal is new. Pakistan paid for a shipment of about 70 F-16s in the late '80s, but the US imposed sanctions on them due to their secret nuclear weapons program and never sent the planes.

Hey, secret nuclear weapons program! Maybe someday we'll be selling weapons to Iran (again) and North Korea.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:40 PM on October 7, 2004

I'm suddenly struck by a wave of peculiar nostalgia, for a time when selling weapons to both sides was preferred to having the US go in and conquer their goddamned countries.
posted by lodurr at 1:56 PM on October 7, 2004

The twisted relationship between the Bush administration and Pakistan's military regime, driven by a mutual desire for survival, is undermining the war on terror.
posted by homunculus at 2:13 PM on October 7, 2004

kirkaracha, is it a "new" deal when we're releasing aircraft that we'd previously agreed to sell, then held up he transfer of? The "new" part is deciding after all to look the other way, right?
posted by alumshubby at 5:30 PM on October 7, 2004

Well, I thought it was a new deal. According to this timeline, Pakistan paid for 28 F-16s in 1989, we froze the sale in 1990, Pakistan threatened to sue the US in 1997, and we agreed to repay them in 1998. If I was mistaken I regret the error.

Us looking the other way isn't new.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:34 PM on October 7, 2004