In the war business, timing is everything. For instance, timing appears to be a factor in the ISIS advance in Iraq and the dysfunctional Iraqi government’s response to it, at least for the war industry.
Last month it was announced a few outstanding members of the military-industrial complex would stand to rake in around a billion dollars if an arms sale to the Iraqi government was approved by Congress.
Considering the current situation in Iraq and alarm bells echoing through the halls of Congress, the sale will undoubtedly go through without a hitch.
On Monday AllGov.com posted details of the sale to the floundering Shia regime in Baghdad:
Beechcraft Defense Co. and eight other contractors are selling 24 AT-6C Texan II aircraft, plus spares and other equipment to Iraq. That deal is worth about $790 million. The plane is used for “light attack and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.” AM General has a deal to send 200 of its venerable Humvees to help guard oil installations. The contract, which includes spares and equipment such as radios and machine gun mounts, is worth $101 million. Raytheon has a $90-million deal for seven aerostats along with 14 Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Tower systems to be used for command and control by the Iraqi military.
“These are just the latest in a string of sales of military equipment to the Iraqi government. Others have included Stinger missiles, C-130J cargo planes, drones and patrol boats,” the web site reports.
The Pentagon has invested around $15 billion in training, weapons and equipment for the fledgling Iraq government.
In November, the Obama announced he would “increase intelligence support and provide new weaponry to Baghdad” in response to advances by al-Qaeda, a move described “a notable shift for his administration.”
In December, The New York Times reported the Obama administration had provided the Iraqi military with three sensor-laden Aerostat balloons, given three additional reconnaissance helicopters to the Iraqi military and said it planned to send 48 Raven reconnaissance drones before the end of this year. In addition, the U.S. said it planned to deliver this fall F-16 fighters Iraq has bought.
If delivered ahead of schedule in response to the current situation, there is a distinct possibility this military hardware will fall into the hands of ISIS. SOURCE