http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/17/fighter-jets-in-democratic-conventions-military-montage-were-turkish-not-american/

The Democratic Party’s national convention in Charlotte, N.C., may have doubled down on insulting the U.S. military community.


The Democratic National Committee has already apologized for using a
photo of four Soviet-era Russian warships in a giant stage backdrop
intended to illustrate the party’s support for military personnel and
veterans.
That huge image, visible in the Time Warner Cable Arena during
speeches by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and retired Admiral John B.
Nathman, also depicted a synchronized formation of jet aircraft that
convention-goers assumed were American fighter planes.
But the F-5 fighter planes in the photo are part of the air force
of Turkey, a nation whose government is now jailing journalists and
establishing Islam as a state religion.
Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee,
did not respond when the The Daily Caller asked why the convention
planners displayed Turkish-flown aircraft alongside Russian warships
while seeking support from the American military community.
On Sept. 12, Democrats apologized for using the picture of
Soviet-era, Russian-operated ships after the slip up was first reported
by the Navy Times. The Navy Times also received a tip that the planes depicted may have been from the Turkish Air Force. (NAVAL EXPERT: Ships shown during Democratic convention tribute to veterans were Russian)
The vessels, with their distinct radars and blue-cross-motif Russian naval flags, occupied the center of the massive backdrop. The aircraft were depicted flying in a seven-plane formation on the upper right.

At least three of the ships in the image were designed and built by
the Soviet totalitarian state that killed 20 million of its own
citizens. Amid steady pressure from the U.S. military, the Soviet Union
collapsed in 1989, marking its defeat in the four-decade Cold War. One
of the warships may now be part of the Ukrainian Navy.
The Russian ships and Turkish aircraft were shown during the final
night of the Charlotte convention on Sept. 6, shortly before President
Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination to serve a second term.
The image first appeared in the closing minutes of an address by Sen. Kerry.


Obama is “a commander-in-chief who gives our troops the tools and
training they need in war,” Kerry said, reinforced by visuals of foreign
ships and aircraft operated by foreign-trained military personnel. (SEE ALSO: TheDC’s complete coverage of the 2012 DNC)
Martin Rosenkranz, a military aircraft expert and editor-in-chief of a military aviation journal in Austria, revealed the fighter jets’ origin to The Daily Caller.


“The aircraft in this image displayed are not U.S. [operated] aircraft,” he told TheDC.


“The jets are most likely from the Turkish air force [because] the
formation and the type (F-5) flown is very typical of the seven-ship
formation flown by the Turkish Air Force Display Team known as the
‘Turkish Stars,’” said Rosenkranz.
“There is no other display team worldwide” that uses a similar seven-aircraft formation.


Rosenkranz’s argument is bolstered by two other factors.


The aircraft shown at the Democrats’ convention are old F-5 aircraft.
They were were designed in the United States and sold to many
countries, including Turkey — whose display team uses that same model.
Also, the planes depicted in the Democrats’ Sept. 6 photo montage
display an unusual red and white striped pattern painted on the
underside of their fuselages — most visible on the lowest and best-lit
of the F-5s in the image.
During a June 2012 airshow in Norway, seven of the “Turkish Stars”
F-5s flew in formation above a cheering crowd. They all featured that
same striped paint job, which can be seen 45 seconds into an amateur video available online.The latest Charlotte faux pas comes as Obama has called for help from
Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Erdogan, to stem widespread Islamist
riots against U.S. facilities and diplomatic personnel.
Obama and Islamist leaders agree the riots were spurred in part by an anti-Islamic video
produced in California, although many regional experts say upsurge was
caused by Islamist groups competing for support from anti-American
voters.
After blaming the video, the White House asked YouTube on Sept. 14 to
consider removing the footage from its Web servers. That same night,
just after midnight Pacific time, California police drove the film’s
producer to an interview with federal law enforcement authorities to
discuss a possible parole violation.
David Martosko contributed reporting.