The Gallup Organization reports that a new USA Today/Gallup Poll asking Americans whether they felt the war in Iraq has made certain things better or worse off. While 48 percent believe the Iraqi people are better off, some 42 percent feel US citizens are worse off. That same percentage of Americans do believe, though, that the strength and preparedness of the US military has gotten better because of the war in Iraq.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.