Hitting a fly with a sledgehammer

Upgrading F-16s (fer chrissake) is counterterrorism only in the sense that we have to keep bribing the Pakistanis to keep claiming in public that they care about the Taliban. What they do and what they say in private? What do you expect for $230 million?

“Using F-16s this way is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” said one senior Senate Democratic aide.

The Bushists don't give the smallest shit how Congress designated the money, and a real counterterror weapon like an A-10 (already durable in close air support) or whatever the C-130-derived gunship is would seem to make a lot more sense if helicopters aren't flashy enough. But none of this matters to Duhbya. He's already on the way out and nothing he can do now will have much effect on the likelihood of terror for the rest of his term. 2009? Who cares?