Today House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and committee members Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) and Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) are discussing their agenda for Iraq in the 110th Congress during a forum entitled “The Way Forward in Iraq,” sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. Skelton, who recently visited Iraq with a bipartisan Congressional delegation, said “Any plan that proposes an increase in deployed American forces must address the question of what the Iraqis will do to put political solutions in place and to take over greater security responsibilities. … My view remains that removing some number of American troops—however small—would send a more powerful message to our Iraqi partners than raising force levels.”
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.