Say what you will about President Jimmy Carter, but even America’s most progressive president until Barack Obama and Joe Biden understood you do not arm enemies. After Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, he canceled the sale of Grumman F-14 Tomcats, refusing to deliver those still in production or to return the jets and Iranian pilots training in the United States.
Biden has no such sense. The U.S. may define Turkey as an ally out of diplomatic nicety, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s full-throated anti-Americanism, embrace of Hamas, willingness to extort NATO over Sweden and Finland’s membership, efforts to help Russia evade sanctions, ethnic cleansing of Kurdish districts in Syria, persistent bombing of Iraq, challenges to Cypriot unity and waters, irredentist claims toward Greece, attacks on protesters in Washington, and logistical support for the Islamic State group are all reasons that individually should disqualify Turkey from receiving F-16s, let alone the next generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
