US Central Command officials in Iraq say that a US Air Force F-16 delivered two 500-pound bombs on an “identified, isolated safe house,” killing the al Qaeda brain in Iraq—Abu Musab al-Zarqawi—and one of his key lieutenants. The air strikes flown by two USAF Vipers took place July 7 at 6:15 p.m. Baghdad time. Officials said that tips and intelligence led them to target the safe house, located about five miles north of Baqubah. Zarqawi has been the mastermind for al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Iraq for years and was one of al Qaeda’s top three leaders worldwide. (Read the statement by President Bush and a report of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s notification to NATO.)
The nation needs a better-coordinated policy for dealing with unmanned aerial systems that threaten domestic bases, Air Force vice chief of staff Gen. James C. Slife told a panel of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He and Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante co-chair a panel looking at counter-UAS…