FIBER OPTICS AND DOWNED PILOTS

Now that our suppression of Iraqi air defenses and artillery is heating up, and Iraqi troops are already trying to surrender, I thought I'd take a look at the first target in the war.

Thanks to investigative reporter Charles R. Smith and the FOIA, we know the most deadly threat to our pilots in Iraq is a modified encrypted command and control network that William J. Clinton, Ron Brown, Adlai E. Stevenson III and William Perry helped Stanford professor John Lewis secure for the Chinese military in 1994. China then upgraded the system with additional French parts, and resold the technology to our current enemy, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban (too late to be effective for them). The compromised Administration’s CIA just overlooked the fact that both the Chinese Army and U.S. SecDef William Perry curiously had Dr. Lewis on their payroll at the same time. The Clinton Administration made sure they had a plausible cover story for the deal. That is, if you call paperwork where Chinese military titles like Lt. Gen. and Lt. Col. are simply changed to Madam and Mr. a good cover for a “civilian” company. It gives a whole new meaning to the term company officers. Seriously, don't laugh. You might remember that Janet Reno bought into the scam even after the facts were known, and refused to investigate the Hua Mei deal.

If we have to fight to defend S. Korea or Taiwan it would not be surprising to hear about our pilots facing the same system in both conflicts. What is it exactly? It's now an advanced fiber optic air defense system called Tiger Song:

Today, using the Tiger Song fiber optic communications system, Iraqi air defense missile sites are spread out, mobile and difficult to detect. Missile launchers, radars and command centers can be placed anywhere as long as they can hook up to the fiber-optic network. Radars, computers, and missiles now share the whole picture carried live over the Tiger Song network.

Allied war fighters have already had a difficult time with Tiger Song. The system allows radars that were previously associated with a specific missile or gun system to trade information. Radar sites for anti-aircraft guns that could not reach high-flying allied planes can now pass target information to large missile launchers, which can reach altitudes over 80,000 feet.

In addition, the Chinese network allows Iraqi missile batteries to move quickly. The network has many hidden prepared positions, ready to be hooked up to a waiting radar, command center or missile launcher. The units are then able to move from position to position, hooking up to the network when necessary.

It's the network we're now bombing nearly every day in Iraq, and the one we’re warning Iraqi soldiers with leaflets not to repair. It was credited with enabling Iraq to shoot down our Predator drones, and it soon may bring down our manned aircraft, leading to tortured and dead pilots. Trading the safety of American pilots for cold hard cash (or should I say soft money?) is not something the average American would feel comfortable doing. To Saddam Hussein, the Chinese and others, it was obviously worth it.

This is something far more unscrupulous than the over-reported story of Stinger missiles given to Afghanis fighting to defend American interests at the time. But, will CBS now make this Clinton deal the subject of a Point-Counterpoint on 60 Minutes? Yep, right after Dan Rather discovers patriotism and asks Saddam about our missing pilot, Scott Speicher, and Saddam's torture methods.

Even though the Iraqi air defenses are improved, the outlook for pilots is better than the last war. We've spent many months seriously chipping away at this air defense network, and we'll likely send in ground forces within 24-48 hours of the full-scale air war. The current plan of attack should prevent any long-term captives, but not all torture or death if a pilot is shot down. So, if people are going to blame America's pot smokers and SUV buyers for being accomplices to the maiming and murder of Americans, shouldn’t we also take a renewed look at which Democrat kingpins negotiated the deals that helped arm our enemies with the latest and greatest technology? If you hate war and live in Hollywood, you might want to start thinking about that now, before those Chinese ICBMs with American technology for campaign cash, or the North Korean "Agreed Framework" nukes, take out L.A. as promised.