Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters after his visit with Iraqi officials that he had emphasized the US commitment to Iraq “is long-term but it is not a commitment to have our young men and women patrolling Iraq’s streets open-endedly.” Gates encouraged them—before taking a summer recess—to pass needed legislation that would “manifest the will of the entire government of Iraq to be a government for all of the people of Iraq in the future.”
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
