London Press Can’t Save Alternate JSF Engine: British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s volley to save the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine contract for the GE-Rolls Royce team was returned with no joy by President Bush. According to Reuters news service, Blair broached the subject during two videoconferences with the President and in a letter—all to no avail as the Administration attempts to cut the Pentagon budget.
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.