Plane Wreck

By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

March 11, 2008--The Pentagon has had a dirty little secret for years now: Foreign suppliers are an increasingly important part of the industrial base upon which the U.S. military relies for everything from key components of its weapon systems to the software that runs its logistics.

With the Air Force's Feb. 29 decision to turn over to a European-led consortium the manufacture and support of its tanker fleet - arguably one of the most important determinants of U.S. ability to project power around the world - the folly of this self-inflicted vulnerability may finally get the attention it deserves from Congress and the public.

The implications of such dependencies were made clear back in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. In the course of that short but intense operation, American officials had to plead with the government of Japan to intervene with a Japanese manufacturer to obtain replacement parts for equipment then being used to expel Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait.

The obvious lesson of that experience seemingly has been lost on the Pentagon. In the nearly two decades after, it has sought to cut costs and acquisition timelines by increasingly utilizing commercial, off-the-shelf (or COTS) technology. Under the logic of "globalization," COTS often means foreign-supplied, particularly with respect to advanced computer chips and other electronic gear. [more...]

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is President of the Center for Security Policy, a National Security Expert, and a columnist for the Washington Times. More on Frank...

Condi's Echo-Chamber
By Caroline B. Glick

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left many Israelis and supporters of Israel scratching their heads in disbelief this week. Rice arrived in Israel in a week marked by Fatah-incited violence against Israel and Israelis, both in Judea and Samaria and within sovereign Israel. On Monday, a well organized group of hundreds of Arab thugs threw rocks at Jewish motorists in Jerusalem. A dozen hoodlums nearly lynched two municipal inspectors when, after blocking traffic on Salah a-Din Street with burning tires, they stoned the inspectors' vehicle and began shattering their windshield with a metal pipe. The two escaped by the skin of their teeth. Outside Hebron, an Israeli was attacked by yet another mob and escaped alive only by opening fire at his assailants. [more...]

Caroline B. Glick is the senior Middle East fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post, where this article first appeared.