A new Harris Poll conducted in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, and the US last month indicates large majorities in five of the six countries believe the coalition should withdraw military forces from Iraq within the next few months. More than 80 percent of respondents in France (90 percent), Spain (84 percent), Britain (83 percent), and Germany (82 percent) favor a timetable of a few months. The survey also asked what were the three most significant events of 2006, which Harris lists as: the Israel/Hezbollah war in Lebanon; the first nuclear test in North Korea; and the defeat of George Bush and the Republican Party in the US Congressional Elections.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
