The six foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus those of Egypt and Jordan and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a statement Tuesday saying they “welcomed” President Bush’s new Iraq strategy. They met in Kuwait to discuss preventing Iraq from becoming consumed in a full-blown sectarian civil war. Yet they did not commit to help stabilize or rebuild the country. Instead, their statement diplomatically called for disarming militias and ending sectarian violence. They said they “hope that the Iraqi government will actively engage all components of the Iraqi people in a real political process.”
The Air Force has finished resurrecting a B-1B Lancer, completing a yearslong process to transform a bomber that had been stored for parts in the Arizona desert into the new flagship of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.