Defense Secretary Robert Gates took the Administration’s new plan for Iraq on the road, holding discussions about both Iraq and Afghanistan with British officials, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, in London on Jan. 14. Gates then traveled to Belgium on Jan. 15 to meet with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to talk primarily about Afghanistan. Gates called success for the alliance’s Afghan mission a “top priority.” He also planned to visit Afghanistan.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…