The Defense Department is still actively involved in evacuating US citizens from Lebanon to Cyprus and points beyond, with the total number of evacuees standing at 12,870 as of July 25. Air Force and DOD charter flights have airlifted more than 6,000 as of July 25 and were expected to transport nearly 4,000 more Wednesday. A Pentagon news release states that US forces have evacuated about 13,000 since the crisis in Lebanon on July 16. US military forces also are continuing to deliver supplies to Lebanon to aid some 600,000 Lebanese nationals displaced by the fighting.
The Pentagon’s Golden Dome project could cost about $1.2 trillion over the next two decades, and it still may not be able to fend off a major missile attack from a peer adversary, according to a new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.