Soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has announced that House Democrats will convene a forum “to discuss the war in Iraq.” Joining key Democrats at the Dec. 5 event will be Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s national security advisor; Richard Holbrooke, former assistant secretary of state for Asia and Europe; and retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, frequent critic of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
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.