Dealing With an Enemy You Armed Yourself...

My friend Mike posed the following question concerning the recent attack by a suspected Islamic terrorist on a US Navy base in his own discussion board where I have participated as a member for 16 years:

"But, does it make sense to sell advanced arms to the same folks who are likely to use them against us?"

Mike, I started this reply on your board, but got so long-winded as usual, I moved it here instead...

The simplest answer is no, it does not, but bear in mind the purchasers in question are already using two of the oldest, and still most effective, weapons the world has ever known - fear and wealth...The wealth of course is a two-edged blade, and honed with fear...All gatherings of people everywhere fear the wealth of others, imagining how it can be used against them, but those in control of wealth quail at the thought of their own wealth making them a target for those jealous of those riches...They fear their own wealth can be taken away from them, as has been demonstrated by the various regime takeovers in the middle eastern histories...Thus the double-edged sword can cut against both those in front and those behind the blade...Some, the Saudis being the prime example here, are smart enough to study that history, and realize their mostly 14th century culture can't effectively manage and control a 21st century military necessary to maintain control of their treasures...I got a first-hand knowledge of this 50 years ago when the pompous and utterly ridiculous buffoon, Moammar Gaddafi made his power play in Libya...


Gaddafi (please substitute here your choice of the many westernized spellings of his name) deposed his predecessor, King Idris, a Senussi Muslim who had been chosen to wield power in Libya by the UN in 1951, before the discovery of oil within those borders...That event in 1959 changed the game permanently...The sudden wealth gushing forth caused all players to realize military power must make its presence known to prevent a bloodbath over its control...Wheelus AB, located just outside Tripoli and operated by the US Air Force, and Royal Air Base al-Adem, south of Tobruk and manned by the British RAF, were established for their strategic value in WWII following the surrender of Libya's former landlord, Italy...Wheelus gained in importance during the Cold War for its geographical positioning against the Soviet threat...My own unit, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, and other European USAF units, used Wheelus on a rotating TDY basis, occupying it as a show of power while training for war on the nearby bombing range east of the base developed by USAF Brig. Gen. (then Colonel) Robin Olds, of whom I have written much in the past...

The Royal Libyan Air Force, under an agreement was allowed to occupy and operate its own small part of Wheelus for maintenance and training of its own small fighter force...Please don't take the following as a racist comment, but rather an observation from one who was there...It was known at the time that even the most sophisticated young men of mideastern extraction, exposed to all the best of modern technology and teaching, were so steeped in the ancient culture of the region which was based on one of the most restrictive and narrowly focused religions the world has ever known, simply could not accept the more imaginative mindset that was necessary to command, control and maintain modern weaponry...Regardless of the quality or quantity of training afforded to Libyan and other mideastern aircrews and ground crews, many, if not most of them, simply could not grasp the concept of modern implements of war...Missiles and guns became daggers and swords...Electronic test equipment and specialized tools translated to measuring sticks and prybars...When the only tool you know is a hammer, you find that not everything responds the same way as a nail...

But it was known that under the right supervision, the best and brightest of these could perform their duties in a perfunctory manner, and with trained western observers watching every move, patiently correcting mistakes in procedure, a military unit could present a defensive and offensive presence at a minimal level...Therefore, at the time when Gaddafi executed his bloodless coup d'tat, swarms of Libyan "recruiters," with US approval prior to his making clear his true intentions, descended on European US bases to talk to trained personnel in key fields in an effort to lure them into accepting early separation from the Air Force in order to accept positions as civilian contractors in the Libyan Air Force...My own field of training in Weapons Release Systems was a critical one, and I was approached with an offer of the equivalent of $30,000.00 a year tax-free, plus housing and four weeks annual leave with paid airfare between Libya and home...This was at a time when my military pay, including separate rations, amounted to $340.00 per month before taxes...

However, the appearance and manners of the "recruiters" reminded me of nothing more than the quintessential cutthoat snake-oil salesmen of legend...I declined the offer, but I knew some who were blinded by the prospect of great pay and benefits in exchange for what they were already doing as airmen, and who accepted the offer...With the events that shortly came to pass, I have no knowledge whether any came to regret their choice of suddenly being trapped in a contract on unfriendly soil...For with a minimum of forewarning, Gaddafi ordered all NATO aligned military units to leave Libya, terminating all lease agreements between his government and ours...His goal of course was to occupy a fully operational Wheelus Air Base (later renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base and today Mitiga International Airport) from which he could expand his own area of control in the mideast...Such a plan was not to be realized however, as the Pentagon had already decided that Wheelus had lost its strategic importance, and its role as a deterrent to the Soviet threat could be better implemented in other NATO friendly locations...The exodus of the US presence from Wheelus is well documented in many sources, but what is not generally known is just how thorough it was...Gaddafi's dream of walking into his new airbase and merely powering up the air conditioning and turning on the water dissolved as the last USAF C-130 left Wheelus at 0841 hours June 11, 1970, carrying its last US commander, Col. Walter L. Russell, Jr., plus the last filing cabinets, tool boxes and mess hall supplies all bound for their next assignments...

While I was still active in the Air Force in 1969, I heard of the plans to vacate the base leaving little that still moved...One of the largest unannounced airlifts in history unfolded as C-130's, C-135's and even C-124's were loaded with the contents of every hangar, repair facility, office and living quarters on the base...Included were the important items such as electronic equipment, technical manuals and anything pertaining to aircraft maintenance and operation...What isn't generally known is that transport aircraft which still had cargo room aboard were loaded with barstools and beer taps from the on-base enlisted and officers clubs, barracks doors and even toilet seats and lids...Every item that wasn't already nailed down, plus some that were, had been placed on board every departing aircraft having enough space within its loading limits for a coffee cup, and airlifted out of Libya for possible use at its next destination...I have also heard but cannot confirm that a number of accidents occurred before the US exit concerning explosives which were kept on base for use by the civil engineers...If these third-hand reports are true, no one was hurt in the accidents, but several buildings sustained considerable damage...Brotherly Leader & Revolutionary Guide Gaddafi not only couldn't gas up a Moped, he couldn't even relieve his own bladder with what remained after the US departure...

But world politics being the cat and mouse game that it is, Gaddafi immediately gave residence to Soviet forces who brought with them a number of MiG 17, 19 and 25 fighters plus a few TU-22 medium bombers as well as an array of SAM missiles...It is my guess that the Russians soon reached a vodka-swilling level of frustration over the mostly untrainable Libyan air and ground crews...Their consolation lay in the knowledge that Libyan oil was denied to the western world, and that NATO forces had one more gun barrel pointed their way on the Mediterranean shore providing yet another shift in the ever changing balance of power...My answer to Mike's question lies in the foregoing narrative, but the short answer is unless America and its allies can sell advanced weaponry to the less troublesome of the mideastern nations, some of which harbor as much hate and fear of their own neighbors as they do the western world, then other powers such as Russia or China, which are also opposed to the astounding success of the nations which embrace democracy, will gladly exchange military weapons and technology for oil resources and a new position of power against an old adversary...

The only real advantages to selling warfare technology to those we know are ideologically opposed to us is the exchange of wealth, and the knowledge that if they turn against us, they must necessarily destroy their own purchases in combat against us...We can also take heart in the knowledge of the lightning-like speed with which technology has moved, making what sold as the latest and greatest yesterday the obsolescent and obsolete junkpile of tomorrow...In addition, since we already know what makes our military hardware so desirable by other nations, we also have a leg up on what it takes to defeat it should it be turned against us...In my opinion, the most effective way of guarding against unfriendly action by supposedly friendly factions is to limit what training they receive for the hardware they buy to facilities within their own borders, thereby limiting any opportunities for harm or the gathering of outside intelligence...It is my further estimation that any practical knowledge received by mideastern students in regard to usage of hardware or software will be negated by what I know to be their inability to advance their own skills through independent study and research...

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