Efforts to rebuild Iraq following nearly a decade of war will remain incomplete, said Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. “If you can’t finish a semester, you get an ‘I.’ We weren’t able to finish what we set out to do,” said Bowen during an Aug. 29 meeting with defense reporters in Washington, D.C. Individually, Bowen gave the various reconstruction efforts a passing grade. However, none received a high mark, he noted. As far as security is concerned, Bowen said, “we largely achieved our goals.” He gave security a B+. Governance and capacity building earned a C- and healthcare got by with a D. Electricity earned a B grade. “Instead of a nine-year rebuilding program, we had nine, one-year rebuilding programs,” he said. Success in any follow-on contingency operations would require both “clarity of unity and clarity of command in order to achieve unity of effort,” he said.
Air Force Eyes New-Build F-16s to Boost Fighter Force
Sept. 16, 2026
The Air Force will consider acquiring new F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to answer capacity shortfalls in its aging fighter fleet, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. These discussions are happening as the Air Force is building its proposed fiscal 2028 budget and the five-year spending plan that goes…
