OK, my three previous tongue-in-cheek posts aside, I've come to a very interesting conclusion over the past few weeks after reading a LOT of ranting on the internet... It's been developing for a long time, but what I've been reading the last few weeks has really cemented it...
Some people simply don't feel secure if they don't feel paranoid about some vast conspiracy -- NATO planes in the US, Black Stealth Helicopters with the UN insignia in Montana, these attacks were orchestrated by the Bush Administration to take attention away from the election he stole, etc. etc. etc.
A little paranoia is a good thing. Knee-jerk paranoia is just that.
JimPeel and Spartacus have really laid out the truth of the situation. The United States doesn't have unlimited AWACS resources, and given the fact that we're now in military operations overseas, the limited supply is stretched even more thin.
I think this is a good indication of the United States taking advantage of Article V by calling on our allies to provide resources that will free up American resources for use in combat operations.
I can hear it now... Why not send the NATO aircraft to the front lines, in that case.
Quite frankly, it's probably a case of continuity of operations and training. Some of the foreign and US units may not have worked together recently, or even before, so there's less chance of operational "OOPS!" happing with American AWACS controllers who are familiar with US force structure/operations.
Quite frankly, I think it's a damned good thing that we do have technologically advanced allies who can, and are willing, to provide this kind of assistance.
