The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has released into the August Congressional doldrums a new report on Iran. The main thrust of the unclassified report is that the threat posed by Iran is high and growing higher, but the US is ill prepared to deal with the Iran question. The report says, “The United States lacks critical information needed for analysts to make their judgments with confidence about Iran, and there are many significant information gaps.” These gaps include knowledge of Iranian political dynamics, economic health, involvement with terrorism, and, of “special concern,” status of nuclear, biological, and chemical programs.
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.