General Dynamics, the maker of tanks and Gulfstream business jets, won a U.S. Army contract valued at $198 million to build 140 tanks for Iraq under the foreign military sales program.
These will equip the best-trained (and presumably most loyal) Iraqi troops. Buying American equipment extends our stay in Iraq as we help the Iraqis train with and maintain the new tanks.
And extending our stay in Iraq means that we will be able to help entrench rule of law and democracy until that concept can take root and grow on its own.
What I don't get is that the story says the tanks will be built. I thought our production lines were long ago closed down, with only repairs, rebuilds, and upgrades being done here. I assumed that any tanks going to Iraq would be upgrades of surplus tanks in storage.
I'll watch for news on this. Perhaps we still build them for foreign sales. Wait. Let me look right now.
Ok, 5 seconds of searching answered my question. We still build the tank in the Ohio plant and there are a few countries that operate the M-1 besides us.
UPDATE: Strategypage writes that some in Iraq are eager for us to stay past 2011:
Iraqi commanders (military and police) who have worked with American troops and advisors for years, fear that the improvements to the Iraqi security forces (better training, leadership and readiness) will disappear once the Americans are gone. The reason, in a word, is corruption.
Even in the dark days when military victory was not yet apparent, I heartily agreed with Strategypage assessments that after the war, rule of law would be the struggle we had to win. It still is.
