Update: Turkey co financed at least part of the JSF program, along with the UK and other NATO countries. The wall street journal reported back in something like 2009 that chinese hackers had stolen TERRABYTES of data from the JSF databases. No worries about the turkish selling the design and specs to the chinese, as the chinese government probably already have them.
Obama is arming Turkey because their government is being overrun with fundamental Islamists, who are hell-bent on establishing full Sharia law in formerly secular Turkey, and establishing a worldwide Islamic Caliphate, something Obama desires. Actions always speak louder than words! We should be very afraid of Obama. In his book "The Audacity of Hope", he says he will side with the Muslims! He is dangerous!
Turkey has changed. During the last few months, Turkey has acted far more as an adversary than as an ally. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threw a diplomatic temper tantrum when the UN’s Palmer Commission found largely in Israel’s favor with regard to Israel’s enforcement of a blockade against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. In its wake:
- Egemen Bağış, a close Erdoğan aide who now serves as Turkey’s Minister for European Union Affairs, threatened to use the (U.S.-supplied) Turkish Navy against Cyprus, an EU member state.
- Turkish warplanes have bombed Iraqi territory, killing seven civilians, a strike for which Turkey neither made the apology nor paid the compensation it demands from others.
- Turkey has demanded an apology from Armenia, somewhat akin to Saddam Hussein demanding an apology from Kuwait, Russia from Georgia, or China from Tibet.
- Erdoğan has used his UN address to bash Israel in the crudest possible terms.
- It continues its drive to supply Turkey with the next generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter without so much as reporting to Congress the vulnerabilities of technology transfer should the fighters be supplied.
- It has agreed to provide Turkey with Predators, even as Turks suggest they want to develop their own version, again suggesting the Turks mean to reverse engineer the product we supply them.
- Now, Francis “Frank” Ricciardone, Obama’s recess appointee to be ambassador to Turkey, has announced the United States would provide Turkey with three Super Cobra helicopters, a platform that Turkey could easily turn against Cyprus or Israel.
Will Turkey Give China Or Iran Our Military Secrets?
The Islamists control the security forces and have eviscerated the judiciary. Anyone who criticizes Erdogan risks getting named a coup plotter in Erdogan’s fantastical conspiracy theory. Long story short, four of those elected by the opposition to parliament have already been accused of crimes, and Erdogan can simply threaten anyone who does not comply with the same. If that doesn’t work, bribery might. Regardless, Erdogan seems a shoe-in for the presidency if he switches Turkey to a presidential system, as he has indicated he would. Therefore, he may enhance his power even further.
Against this backdrop, it is time Congress stop ignoring its oversight role. The Obama administration seems intent on selling Turkey the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, replete with stealth technology and the backbone of our national defense for generations to come. On one hand, Turkey is part of the consortium building the jet, but their contribution is to the fuselage. They will not have access to the most high-technology parts until we sell them the planes.
The problem is trust: The Turkish Air Force has held secret war games with the Chinese Air Force, and the new head of the Turkish intelligence services has been as much a cheerleader for the Islamic Republic of Iran as he has been an antagonist for the United States. The question, alas, is not whether Turkey would sell America’s secrets to Beijing or Tehran, but whether they might simply provide them to our enemies. The simple fact of the matter is trust in the Turkish-American relationship is a thing of the past, and the White House should not leverage America’s security secrets because of diplomatic nicety. Regardless, as Turkey brags about its good neighbor policy toward Syria, Hezbollah, Iran and Russia, it’s unclear why Turkey would even need such a high-tech jet fighter.
What begs belief is that as the Obama administration prepares to move forward with this sale, the Congress would not do so much as require the Pentagon to report on the F-35’s vulnerabilities to technology transfer should it fall into Turkish hands.