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Andrew Dickens: Warbirds over Wānaka is just about planes · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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  Speaker 1: So yesterday the Otago Daily Times ran an article about
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  Speaker 1: what a fellow called Grant Kitto thinks. Now. Grant is
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  Speaker 1: a former Doctor Without Borders worker mat san Frontier, and
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  Speaker 1: Grant Kitto argued that showcasing the US Air Force F
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  Speaker 1: twenty two Raptors at the Warbirds over Wonker effectively legitimizes
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  Speaker 1: US military power and the weapons systems that have been
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  Speaker 1: used in conflicts where civilians were killed, and he would
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  Speaker 1: like it if they were stopped from actually performing now.
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  Speaker 1: The Raptor is made by Lockheed Martin, and back in
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  Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, a US Air Force gunship, also built by
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  Speaker 1: Lockheed Martin, attacked Doctors Without Borders Hospital, killing forty two people,
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  Speaker 1: including fourteen staff members. So you can see where grank
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  Speaker 1: Kitto is a little bit upset about the United States
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  Speaker 1: Air Force. Obviously, he also worries about the huge emissions
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  Speaker 1: from the planes, so he just thinks it's just a
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  Speaker 1: bad idea. A local councilor echoed his concerned and said
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  Speaker 1: that the current global environment was not good for a
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  Speaker 1: display of US military power right now in beautiful Wanica.
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  Speaker 1: And he said, because this kit, this plane is in
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  Speaker 1: current use, that makes a difference compared to the older
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  Speaker 1: planes which will be at the event. But I thought,
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  Speaker 1: what a load of tosh. Firstly, I guess the giveaway
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  Speaker 1: is the name of the event. It's always been war birds.
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  Speaker 1: These are all warplanes. This is a celebration of war machines,
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  Speaker 1: but more so the ingenuity of the people who built
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  Speaker 1: the amazing planes and what they can do in the air,
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  Speaker 1: not what they can do to kill. No one's firing
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  Speaker 1: off any missiles here. And I wonder where all the
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  Speaker 1: descent was back in the day when the American F
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  Speaker 1: sixteen's visited, which were also on act of duty, or
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  Speaker 1: the Australian F one to elevens, Or how about the
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  Speaker 1: Soviet era MiGs which at the time with the height
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  Speaker 1: of the weapons of mass destruction? What about the British
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  Speaker 1: Vulcan bombers that killed thousands in their career, or even,
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  Speaker 1: dare I say it, the mighty spitfire. Does Grunt Kitto
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  Speaker 1: also have a problem with shooting at the Olympics or archery?
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  Speaker 1: Does he have a problem with the javelin, which of
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  Speaker 1: course is based on spearwork, the ultimate and original weapon
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  Speaker 1: of mass destruction? Look, I understand his concern, but I
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  Speaker 1: think I'd say maybe it's better to understand the weapon
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  Speaker 1: rather than to ban it. And of course it's not
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  Speaker 1: the plane that did all the killing, it's the people
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  Speaker 1: who controlled it. This plane is coming to fly and
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  Speaker 1: to show what it can do in the air, and
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  Speaker 1: the F twenty two Raptor is a mind boggling good
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  Speaker 1: piece of kit. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: listen live to news Talks. It'd be from five am weekdays,
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  Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.