USAF Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dismissed talk of lowered expectations in Iraq. Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, he said war critics are trying to “find some divide” between military leaders in Iraq and Washington officials. He went on: “The insurgency that we fight day in and day out, as challenging as it is, can’t sway us. …. They cannot be victorious.”
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.