A Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman told reporters over the weekend that a coalition air strike on Sept. 3 had killed “the terrorist responsible for the planning and conducting of the horrific attack against the Yazidis [sect] in northern Iraq on Aug. 14. That attack killed more than 400 people, according to Agence France Presse news service; other news reports cited the death toll at 250, with scores more injured. Rear Adm. Mike Fox said the al Qaeda militant killed in the air strike about 70 miles southwest of Mosul was Abu Mohammed al-Afri and added that Abu Jassam, as he was also known, “is no longer a threat to the Iraqi people.”
The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.