The View From There: In a thoughtful commentary printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a New Jersey Air National Guard F-16 pilot tells why he believes in America as a “good, decent, and moral country” that must finish the job in Iraq, where “the vast majority of Iraqi people” want our aid to help them achieve “peace and happiness.” During his service in Iraq over the past two months, Maj. Kevin Kelly took time to visit the American hospital at Balad Air Base, where he talked with wounded US troops and Iraqis—citizens, soldiers, and police—injured in a recent car-bomb blast. He also saw in another ward US medics caring for “the very animals” that commit such terrorist attacks.
The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.