"We Do Not Need These Planes"

President Obama reiterated his Administration's pledge to veto any attempt by the Congress to fund more F-22s beyond the 187 that Secretary Gates requested.
This Washington Post article also notes that the Administration criticized the attempt by the Congress to fund an "alternative engine" for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The article, written by R. Jeffrey Smith, notes that President Obama sent a letter to Senator Carl Levin and Senator John McCain, who head up the Senate Armed Services Committee. The President's letter was blunt: "We do not need these planes"...
The article noted that the "president's veto threat reflects his desire to win congressional backing for virtually all of the large revisions in Pentagon spending put forward by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in April, including terminating a half-dozen Cold War-era weapons programs to help pay for arms and equipment that military commanders say they need in Iraq and Afghanistan and for future counterinsurgency efforts. 'I think we've done pretty well' winning support for most of the changes, Gates told reporters last month, with the exception of the proposed $1.75 billion for more F-22s and $439 million for an alternative engine for the F-35 that the Pentagon has long considered wasteful."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071303098.html?hpid=moreheadlines