Liberal Talk Radio

First, there were the Adventures of the Seawolf, the attack submarine that gallantly defended Grand Central Station and Downtown Terre Haute from terrorists.

Now, scared shitless that Congress is going to come to its senses and realize that the Air Force budget need to go on a huge diet, the bureaucrats at the USAF have ginned up a new rationale for the billions and billions of dollars we’re spending to upgrade planes that are already 2-3 generations ahead of anything ever conceived by any other nation on planet Earth.

According to Government Executive, the Air Force wants in on the “War on Terror.” Listen to how desparate they sound:

Air Force officials bristled at this passage in the new counterinsurgency manual: “Inappropriate or indiscriminate use of air strikes can erode popular support and fuel insurgent propaganda. For these reasons, commanders should consider the use of air strikes carefully during [counterinsurgency] operations.” He agrees that recent air strikes, particularly in Afghanistan, have caused civilian casualties and generated ill will.

Is it me, or does this sound exactly like the beef industry complaining that the “food pyramid” made them seem less important than their arch rivals in the wheat business? Clearly the Air Force needs some help with it’s messaging, and we here at BATP are eager to help. Below, you’ll find a pictures that will help you visualize just how effective the F-22 can be in protecting a bustling market in downtown Baghdad. Look how effortlessly it glides over the ground (at a gentle speed of, say, Mach 1), avoiding IEDs and EFPs with grace. Sure, it’ll rip the roofs off all those buildings and probably suck a few small children into its engines, but hey, that’s the price of freedom!

(PS: it’s pretty hard to find an image of a Baghdad market on the internet that hasn’t been destroyed by a bomb. Note to the war propagandists: better propaganda, please!)