Absolutely mortified

[AFTT47]

You wouldn't dare fly them against any enemy with a competent air defense system.  But then, we don't fight those countries.  And using the A-10 to blast pick up trucks with a machine gun mounted on them is overkill.  

The only reason the pentagon didn't retire the A-10 years ago is because John McCain as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee whined about how essential it is when really all he cared about was not having Davis–Monthan Air Force Base closed on his watch.  "Defense" plays second fiddle to politics.

I won't argue about defense vs. politics but:

Davis-Monthan is primarily an aircraft recycling center.

The A10 is not for use against Russia or China. It is a weapon against barbarians like ISIS and as I said earlier, there is no modern equivalent. These planes will absolutely demolish ground targets while shrugging off their anti-aircraft fire as mere annoyance.

We need aircraft to perform in this role. What is the sense of retiring the A10s when we already have them and none of our more modern aircraft are designed for nor as capable of performing this role?