Levin doesn’t think much of the Bush Administration’s vow to veto the 2006 defense authorization bill. In fact, he thinks it’s bluster. The White House says it will nix the bill unless Congress excises references to new standards for treatment of detainees in the war on terror. No way, said the Democrat, because it would make the Administration look terrible politically. “No matter what the threat is, to veto a bill like that … is a false threat.” He added, “I don’t think [the Administration] will.”
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.