Following the Dec. 2 New York Times story on a Nov. 6 memo sent by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to President Bush that suggested it was time to change the Administration approach to the war in Iraq, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that the President plans to “make some changes.” Hadley called Rumsfeld’s memo, sent two days before he announced his resignation, a helpful “laundry list” of proposals that will be considered along with those from the Iraq Study Group, due out this week. Among Rumsfeld’s options was to accelerate a drawdown of US facilities in Iraq, position a stronger US force along the borders with Iraq and Syria, and provide US forces for security only to those provinces or cities that ask for US help.
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.