According to a just-released report by the House Armed Services Committee’s oversight and investigations panel the more than $19 billion spent over the past four years to train and equip Iraq police and military personnel has produced “mixed results” and forces that “are not yet ready to take full responsibility for their nation’s security.” Moreover, the panel declares that after three months studying the effort, its members “cannot assess the operational capability of these forces” and put the blame squarely on DOD, which it said was “unwilling or unable to provide Congress with meaningful information.” In short, the panel reports, “We are actually left with more questions than answers.”
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…