Off The Bus On Security

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
May 11, 2008
Pg. B4
By Dennis Hastert
A core lesson our nation learned on Sept. 11, 2001, is the asymmetric nature of the threats we face and how comprehensive our security efforts must be to effectively combat them.
While in subsequent years, many among our political class have chosen to disregard this lesson, it was shocking to learn that a critical element of our national security team has apparently disregarded it as well.
In the largest acquisition in its history, the U. S. Air Force recently awarded a $40 billion contract to build our next generation of aerial refueling tankers to a foreign-led consortium of companies. This decision puts at risk our ability to project power across the globe, protect our supply chain of critical military components and maintain our economic competitiveness — all essential components of a truly comprehensive national security effort.
No longer protected by the vastness of two oceans, the United States’ ability to take the fight to our enemies by projecting our power around the world is more important than ever. Modernizing the Air Force’s aging tanker fleet is central to that effort.
The Air Force had a choice between an experienced, American-led Boeing team and an untested French-run, Airbus-consortium. In choosing Airbus, the Air Force inexplicably elected to buy an inferior and untested product, threatening to undue an almost half-century-long advantage the U.S. has enjoyed in aerialrefueling technology.
Airbus has never built a refueling tanker with the boom technology the Air Force needs. In fact its aircraft, the KC-30, has not been tested as a tanker and the facilities needed to manufacture it have not been built. In sharp contrast, the Boeing KC-767 has accumulated several years of flight testing and is 99 percent interoperable with existing commercial and military support.
By essentially outsourcing national security work, the Air Force has undermined the security of the supply chain for critical military hardware. Airbus is controlled by the European Aerospace Defense Systems firm owned by France, other European companies and even a Russian state-owned bank.
Many European state, industry and opinion leaders routinely oppose U.S. foreign policy initiatives and military action, and some have used their influence to obstruct it.
After U.S. troops began fighting in Iraq in 2003, owners of a Swiss company, Swatch Group AG, refused to deliver vital components it manufactured for U.S. weapons due to their opposition to our war effort. This unilateral action disrupted our supply chain for a critical military asset during a military campaign and put American troops directly at risk.
If one European CEO can impair our war effort, imagine what could be done by sovereign governments’ intent on hindering U.S. efforts and with control over even more critical supplies like refueling aircraft. With the Air Force’s decision, this could become reality.
By outsourcing the manufacturing jobs needed to build new refueling tankers, the strength of the American economy — a key component of national security — is put at risk. This decision will send about 19,000 high-quality aerospace jobs to Europe and undermine U.S. economic security.
Boeing offered a superior product, built with 85 percent domestic U.S. content created by 44,000 American jobs in 40 states. With our economy hovering near recession, the Air Force’s decision essentially creates an American taxpayerjobs program for Europeans.
European headlines have heralded the change in policy. They are celebrating the Air Force tanker award as growing European jobs and as a sign the U.S. has decided to open wide its defense market.
After Sept. 11, 2001, it’s not enough to rely on individual elements of national power for our security. True security will only come through a comprehensive approach that includes the cutting-edge technology needed to take the fight to our enemies, guaranteed access to the supplies we need to do it and the economic strength to support it.
The Air Force’s decision shows it hasn’t learned the hard lessons of the recent past. Congress and the administration must act to enhance our security by thoroughly investigating not just legal and process issues but, more importantly, must confront and address the very real and disturbing national and economic security questions raised by this Air Force tanker decision.
Dennis Hastert is the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
 
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