Using Italy's Tornado jets to bomb
ISIS in Iraq would be a "significant" step but it would be even
better if the US agrees to arm Italy's Predator drones against
the Caliphate, former air force chief of staff Leonardo
Tricarico told ANSA Tuesday.
Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti, who will meet US Defence
Secretary Ash Carter Wednesday, should press him about getting
the armed versions of the drones, said Tricarico, a former
military advisor to the Italian premier's office.
"The debate that has opened on possible Italian bombing,"
Tricarico said, "is consistent with the somnolence and lack of
desire with which the international community has decided to
fight the so-called Islamic State.
"If we really want to hit ISIS all of us need to roll up up
their sleeves and put into the field everything they have got to
give to take the place of a coalition that has thus far proved
not very effective," he went on.
Tricarico, president of the ICSA Foundation, went on to
criticise France's initiative to conduct raids against ISIS
targets, calling it "a sign of the extreme superficiality with
which action is being taken".
As for Italy, the general said "if our Tornadoes are
authorised not only for reconnaissance but also as strikers,
there's no scandal there, despite the usual pacifist hysteria
that is re-awoken every time in these cases.
"The decision could skip the parliamentary rubberstamp but
in actual fact this seems to be obligatory because the
initiative sparks alarm among public opinion," Tricarico went on
to say.
The fighter-bombers, he said, "are aircraft fit for
purpose, they have shown this over the years: they can hit
targets with elevated precision and a margin of error of a
metre".
But Tricarico insisted on what he called the "bizarre"
Predator question.
"We have had the Predators for almost 11 years, but we
still haven't got a weapons license the US administration has to
give out for them.
"Evidently, they don't consider us to be allies that are
reliable as the British and so they aren't giving us the weapons
kit that would make our Predators much more useful than the
Tornadoes in that theatre".
Tricarico insisted: "I think that Pinotti must seize the
opportunity, to speak with her US colleague and put an end to an
embarrassing situation".
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