When priorities come into conflict...
Now, the US is reportedly considering a sale of the advanced stealth F-35 Lightning II to Saudi Arabia. In an effort to maintain military superiority, Israel has asked the Bush administration to purchase the the F-22 Raptor, despite the fact that foreign sales of the aircraft are currently banned by Congress.
There are a couple of interesting issues here. The United States would like Saudi Arabia to have a powerful air force in order to resist potential Iranian aggression, and we'd like to sell the Saudis our aircraft because we like money. But on the wild chance that there's instability in Saudi Arabia, those aircraft might be used against Israel or the United States. Remember, the only country in the world that still flies the F-14 is Iran. So of course the Israelis want the F-22, as it's the only aircraft regarded as reliably superior to the F-35. Incidentally, the Israelis are also planning to buy F-35s. But of course the US doesn't want to sell Israel F-22s, because we still want the best fighter in the world for ourselves. Also, the Japanese, Koreans, and Australians all want to buy the F-22, and selling only to Israel would be difficult.
If this seems complicated, imagine four years from now when Iraq (or its successor states) decides that it needs advanced fighter aircraft. Unless its a glowing Israel-friendly democracy by that time (not bloody likely), I imagine that the Israelis are going to complain bitterly (with some justification) that advanced aircraft shouldn't be sold to an unstable state. And that is when the real fun begins...
--Robert Farley
