There has been ALOT of outrage circling the web over the Iranian President’s aircraft being allowed to park at Andrew’s Air Force Base and given free security from our military personnel. Unfortunately, most of the people upset about this do not seem to realize the OPSEC (Operational Security), Homeland Security, or even Foreign Policy reasons for doing this.
Think about it. The President of Iran, Mahmoud Imadinnerjacket, lands in the US to attend the UN meeting. Several scenarios are possible.
#1 – The US does NOT offer him secure parking for his jet. Someone nefarious sneaks on the plane and plants a bomb. Shortly after take-off, the jet explodes. The US is blamed for the assassination, no matter who is ultimately responsible because the jet was not secure. Foreign Policy Fail.
#2 – With no one keeping eyes on the Iranian jet, someone nefarious sneaks off the plane and disappears into the crowd. Days/weeks/months/years later, someplace in America goes ka-boom. Security Fail.
#3 – We allow Imadinnerjacket to park at the military base, but we will charge him for it. He declines, leaves his jet at an exposed airport. See #1 & 2. Fail.
#4 – We tell Imadinnerjacket that we will charge him for providing security to his jet. He declines, and brings his own security team. Iranian security on American soil? Can we trust them? Can we trust that they won’t let someone nefarious sneak out to become a sleeper cell and wreak havoc and destruction on the US? No. Security Fail.
I could go on, and on. The truth is, if people would stop and think rationally about the situation, they’d realize that providing free parking and security to the Iranian jet is more about keeping the US safe than him.
If you think I’m a crazy conspiracy theorist here, my theory is backed up by a 2006 article at ABC:
Sources tell ABC News that Ahmadinejad’s “Iran Air” jet is considered a “high-value target” and an “enemy jet.” As such it has been stationed at the secure Air Force Base where a security perimeter has been set up to keep an eye on the plane.
The fact that this is purely for security reasons is also reiterated in a current Washington Post story:
“Normally their aircraft will drop off the heads of state at the given location and they’ll position here and wait until the summit ends,” she said. “It’s for security in general. It’s easier to provide security on an Air Force installation for any foreign aircraft than it is at a commercial airport.”
So there you have it folks. It’s all about OPSEC, for US, not him.