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Defense Secretary Robert Gates lost no time assembling a group to fly to Iraq to consult with in-theater US military leaders and Iraqi government officials to help devise a new plan. Gates has been to Iraq before, most recently when he was on the Iraq Study Group, so he knows the players. He told reporters during this visit that US commanders have been “very candid.” He also noted that it’s important for the Iraqi government “to be a partner in this,” and then amplified that comment to say “We need to be a partner with the Iraqi government with them out in front.”
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…