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Step Aside US: Pakistan's New "Best Friend" China, To Provide Karachi With 50 New JF-17 Fighter Jets On Expedited Basis
There was a time when a young Mujahideen commander named Osama bin Laden was a core ally of the US in the fight against Soviet communism and central planning. Well, that particular affair did not end too well for either Osama, nor for the USSR (although one may argue that "communism and central planning" are experiencing a second renaissance courtesy of capitalist central banking). Along the same lines, Pakistan which as recently as 3 weeks ago was considered a core US ally, has very promptly fallen out of favor following the death of that other abovementioned former ally. Yet Pakistan is not wasting time. Two days after Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani took a direct stab at deteriorating US-Paki relations by saying that China is now his country's "best friend", China has retorted in kind by announcing it will provide another 50 JF-17 fighter jets to Pakistan on an "expedited" basis. The WSJ reports that "the agreement to accelerate supply of the jointly developed jets, the first 50 of which are being assembled in Pakistan, came as Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani held talks in Beijing during a visit that he has used to portray China as an alternative source of military and civilian aid. "We're getting the 50 jets, on top of the ones we already have. Something has been agreed in Beijing, so they'll be expedited" he said." In other words: step aside US, here comes China. As for those billions in USD aid which somehow never ended up being used to buy US Treasurys (Pakistan is nowhere in the listing of US Treasury holders) , it is now clear into whose pocket they are going (at $15 million a pop, those are big pockets). Lastly, this is more than just posturing by China: the country is clearly indicating its latest and greatest sphere of influence. As a reminder, "It was reported in 2008 that Azerbaijan and Zimbabwe had placed orders for the aircraft and nine other countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Algeria were showing interest."
More from the WSJ:
China is Pakistan's biggest arms supplier and its third-biggest trading partner.
The JF-17 is a potent symbol of the two countries' friendship, and a key part of Pakistan's plans to upgrade its aging fleet of American-supplied F-16s and French-made Mirages and to try to match the air power of neighboring India—its arch rival.
The U.S. has repeatedly delayed delivery of F-16s to Pakistan, and has insisted that they not be used against India, with which Washington is now cultivating a strategic partnership to counterbalance Beijing's clout in Asia.
China and Pakistan began developing the relatively cheap multipurpose fighter in 1999 and Pakistan, which has said it wants 250 of them altogether, inducted its first squadron of JF-17s last year, and a second earlier this year.
The air-force spokesman said he did not know whether the second batch of 50 jets would be assembled in Pakistan or delivered whole from China.
He also declined to discuss whether they would be the basic so-calledBlock I models, like the first batch, or an upgraded Block II version, which military aviation experts say could include radar-evading stealth technology—potentially giving Pakistan that capability for the first time.
Questions also remain over the new jets' engines. The first batch were all fitted with Russian ones, but Russian officials have expressed reservations about supplying more of those engines as Pakistan and China have been marketing the JF-17 in many of Russia's traditional markets.
Meanwhile back in the US, the politicos are stunned that after being shunned by the US, Pakistan dares to allign itself with America's natural opposite.
Pakistan's efforts to showcase its close ties with China are causing consternation in the U.S.
During a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho expressed frustration at Mr. Gilani's statement that China was Pakistan's "best friend" despite billions of dollars of U.S. aid over the last decade.
"It just—it just doesn't make sense...Because, frankly, I'm—I'm getting tired of it, and I think Americans are getting tired of it as far as shoveling money in there [to] people who just flat don't like us," he said, according to a transcript.
At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, Congressman Michael McCaul (R) of Texas raised particular concern about whether U.S. military aid had been diverted into the JF-17 program.
Yes. It has.
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You sound insane. Contact professional psychologist. What a waste!!
when the most wanted man in the history of the world was hiding right in front of the military academy and not one of that country's best military officers knew
You revealed your deep understanding and indepth knowledge of what's going on with that statement.
Go back to Faux news and leave ZH alone. You are an embarrassment.
agreed. It's that whole "Ishn Allah" shit and then they let go of the stick and the throttle. Dead as soon as they crank the turbines, they just don't know it.
http://www.facebook.com/PaistanAirWarriors
You can friend them on Facebook, and pass along a message, like ESAD
You give us peeky-peeky from US helicopter, we give you more wery fine China planes chop-chop!
We give you nice missle also when bad Americans kicked out of country.
Co-incidentally the QRS chip reverse engineered from the Boeing Jets they bought in 2001 just happens to give them the ability to fly the planes from the ground. No pilot? No problem. Just point and click. Even a caveman could crash it... into an Indian natural gas electrical generation plant.
Indians are gonna sit on their thumbs until it is too late.
Pak has over 100 nukes today.
Gonna be good tv.
Gonna be a lot less Indians in the future.
Shit happens. Idiots deserve what they get.
and you recommend that india start a war with pak before its too late? Im begining to suspect that american foreign policy is actually representative of the citizen sentiment.
the asian countries will hopefully wise up just like the south american countries did... and also be protrayed very negatively in american media.
i agree with the "idiots deserve what they get" bit.
I think 90% of all american graduates who are graduating in liberal arts and sociology are going to spend the rest of their lives in debt slavery. This might even cause a new socialist revolution in the US.
Great, so the best we can hope for is a new socialist aristocracy in the best DSK traditions?
Women are morons to go along with the abuse embedded in the socialist traditions.
But, hey, fuck 'em. This is what they seem to want.
Whatevs.
India will kill them or die. I don't really give a damn.
I will still eat and enjoy the sunsets whatever they do.
My advice would be to destroy Pak tomorrow, but I am sure they'll just keep hoping for the best. Heh. People do not learn from history. Maybe the beautiful people of India would like a sudden reduction in total population. You never know.
South American sentiment is idiotic. But they can afford to be since they live under the US umbrella. For now.
Asian countries are on their own. Obama will sell them out.
99.9% of Americans want peace on the South Asian subcontinent. India and Pakistan should be building homes, schools, hospitals, water treatment plants, not nuclear weapons. The world has gone mad.... and the U.S. (Nixon-Kissinger) got the ball rolling for the Pakistanis, and the U.S.S.R. (Breznhev-Kosygin) got it rolling for the Indians. The U.S. should try to calm things down over there and try to have the Indians and Pakistanis shake hands and make peace, but now, with the Chinese coming into the picture, I predict more strife in that area. The world has gone mad....
JF17. meet. F22
F22 was canceled by the Shiite in Chief.
The business of China is business.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
I wonder how they plan to pay for these? ... yeah ... I scratch your back ... you scratch mine.
Killy & The Deathtones announce their new "Simplification" WORLD TOUR w/ special guests: DJ SnapCount, and the Hydrogen Warheads...coming to a city near you - Summer 2013!!!
May 13 - Pyongyang
May 14 - Jinan
May 15 - Nanching
May 17 - Islamabad
May 18 - Karachi
May 19 - Kabul
May 21 - Tehran
May 23 - Riyadh
May 24 - Mecca
May 26 - Jerusalem
May 28 - Istanbul
June 3 - Novosibirsk
June 5 - Moscow
June 8 - Frankfurt
June 9 - Berlin
June 10 - Munich
June 11 - Zurich
June 12 - Geneva
June 14 - The Hague
June 25 - Sao Paulo
June 26 - Rio de Janeiro
June 29 - Medellin
June 30 - Caracas
July 2 - Havana
July 4 - Oaxaca
July 5 - Mexico City
July 6 - Juarez
July 10 - Bohemian Grove
July 11 - Crawford
July 12 - Area 51
July 13 - NORAD HQ
July 16 - Kennebunkport
July 17 - Martha's Vineyard
July 18 - The Hampton's
July 19, 20, 21, & 22 - New York City
"When the Man Comes Around" - Johnny Cash He protested against the Vietnam War, sang anti-war songs at the Nixon White House. Deeply upset about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Never uttered a hateful word in his adult lifetime. To do so would that when The Man comes around one is passed over, of course. Hate? Hell. Railing about political correctness is typically in defense of one's hatreds, a "better than" mentality that would continue to hate the last other person on earth because it couldn't be that one might think differently. So, did you go 4-wheel drive, or upgrade, after 9/11? Fill that gap in your arsenal? Have you ever given of your time and effort to a charitable cause?
Interesting. . . . Pakis and China have aircraft development projects together, and pakistan just got one of our super duper stealth helicopters.
Hmmmmmm. . . . .
you mean like that country where there's a terrorist under every bed, on every plane and in every bus, in every baby diaper?
yes... THAT doomsday cult...with nukes.
Noting to worry about. Obama has already found new ready and willing recipients for our hard earned tax dollars; mid east revolutionary democratic non core muslim movements, as announced yesterday.
China could very well give the fighters for free; it's priceless when you get ideologically blinded morons to fight your enemies...
And the only reason US has decided to align itself as an enemy of the muslim world, is due to jewish iron grip of the US. Look where US bombs are being dropped now...all these countries are natural enemies of Israel. US has been manipulated to fight Israel's wars, without any benefit to itself.
Who can blame 'em? I'd imagine that they're probably tired of having their airspace violated & their citizens murdered by drones.