Another probe of American consensus, taken by CBS News last week, shows that the war in Iraq is the most important problem facing the country today by a wide margin. Of those surveyed, 24 percent considered the Iraq war the most important problem facing the nation today, while the economy and jobs followed distantly with 13 percent. About a month earlier, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll asking what should be the top priority for the federal government returned the same top two, but with markedly less separation. Twenty-one percent of Americans chose the war in Iraq, compared to 19 percent who believed the focus should be the economy.
The United States Air Force is flying less than historic norms and funding for acquisition and readiness is on a path to further hollow out this too small and old force to that is incapable of sustaining an enduring combat air campaign.
