Two German air force jets crashed a few weeks ago, and the pilots
parachuted to safety.
Big deal?
Well, yeah, I think so — considering the fact that the two Luftwaffe
fighters crashed over Carlsbad, New Mexico.
What is the Luftwaffe doing flying over U.S. airspace and conducting
military training exercises?
Good question. But don’t expect any easy answers from U.S. or German
officials. There’s lots of secrecy involved in this long-term training
operation.
Now, the U.S. government is telling those of us in the press who care
enough to ask that we will never be given any details of the training
exercise that failed nor the crash of the Tornado fighters.
Why? Even though the collision occurred in airspace regulated by the
Federal Aviation Agency, and even though the training exercise was
sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, neither authority is involved in
investigating the crash, they claim.
“A team of German air force members is investigating the crash,” says
Capt. Gregg Bottemiller, director of public affairs at Hollomon Air
Force Base. “The accident report will be a German document and, as such,
not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”
Do you get the feeling there’s something about this crash and the
training program that U.S. officials want to keep secret from the
American people? I sure do.
Do you think average Americans would be surprised to learn that the
Luftwaffe is training over U.S. soil? Do you find it a little difficult
to believe that the U.S. government doesn’t investigate air crashes of
any kind over U.S. soil? Shouldn’t the fact that the two planes were
foreign make the government authorities even more curious about the
causes, the effects and future safety concerns? If ever there was a time
for government regulation and oversight, it ought to be policing
dangerous foreign activity on U.S. soil.
Ah, but if the U.S. admitted that it looked into the crash at all,
then it would be open to Freedom of Information Act requests for the
findings. Who knows who might be embarrassed by what the people found
out?
I find it incredibly convenient that the stationing of German air force
personnel and equipment and fly-over exercises of this kind will remain
secret because the U.S. government, which brought this activity here,
does not have jurisdiction over it.
And here is just one more of many problems with these international
agreements the federal government seems so fond of making. If the U.S.
government cannot get an accounting of such activity and make it public,
that, in and of itself, ought to be a disqualifier for any future
agreements of this kind.
Only about 50 years ago, Americans fought the Luftwaffe to preserve
our idea of an open society. What an irony that today’s government
officials would sacrifice that openness for a wily and cozy relationship
with a foreign power.
We should know better. None other than the father of our country
warned us about such entanglements — and this Luftwaffe training
agreement is just one of dozens our illustrious leaders in Washington
have foisted upon us.
“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to
believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be
constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign
influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government,”
George Washington wrote three years before he died. “Real Patriots, who
may resist the intrigues of the favorite (nation), are liable to become
suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and
confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.”
The tools and dupes in the elite circles in Washington need a wakeup
call. America is our country. We are not citizens of the world — we are
citizens of a constitutional republic here in the United States. The
duty and responsibility of U.S. officials is first and foremost to the
people of the United States — not secret agreements with foreign
nations.
But the longer Americans tolerate this kind of arrogant conduct by
their officials, the more difficult it will be to hold them accountable.
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