Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) has announced that the Senate dropped funding for work on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) project. He says the earth-penetrating focus now will shift to the Pentagon’s approach using conventional warheads. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld won’t be happy about that, having specifically asked for the funding in a recent letter to the Senate.
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.