And now, a rare moment of sympathy for the Air Force

Abu Muqawama may be heartless and whine that the Air Force eats up too much budget -- fighting, as we are, two low-tech wars -- but when F-15s start falling out of the sky, that ain't a good thing.

Air Force officials announced yesterday that the metal beams on 162 of the fighter jets have flaws -- such as being too thin, too rough or improperly cut -- adding that high-stress flight over the past three decades has exposed the problem. The discovery came after an F-15C ripped into two large chunks on a training mission over Missouri in November, leading investigators to pore over the wreckage and order inspections of the 450 other F-15 A-D models. The planes were initially grounded that month.