The Pentagon’s latest quarterly report to Congress on progress in Iraq favors the view of the January National Intelligence Estimate that the term “civil war does not adequately capture the complexity” of the situation, but it does acknowledge that “some elements” are “properly descriptive of a ‘civil war.’” The report also confirms that the level of violence has “continued to rise” and still persists primarily—more than 80 percent of it—in the four provinces centered around Baghdad. What is needed to “uproot the main drivers of violence,” says the report, is “maximum flexibility on the part of the coalition and the [Government of Iraq.]” The last report called for more money to help turn the tide.
The successful second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., also included a first for the company—the launcher’s booster stuck its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
