Attitudes about the conflict—not surprisingly—are intensely colored by political partisanship. Gallup finds a mere 20 percent of Republicans believe the war was a mistake, compared with 64 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats. When asked what to do about troop levels, only 44 percent of Republicans favor the withdrawal of some or all troops, while 64 percent of independents and 81 percent of Democrats favor the same.
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.