In a Sept. 25 air strike near Al Nussayyib, Iraq, a USAF F-16 dropped two inertial navigation system/Global Positioning System-guided 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions, killing Abu Nasr al-Tunisi and two other al Qaeda operatives. Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, Multinational Corps Iraq chief of staff, told Pentagon reporters that al-Tunisi was a foreigner who brought al Qaeda members into Iraq. He was a one of an inner circle of advisors to Ayyub al-Masri, the overall al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Anderson said his death “deals a significant blow to their operation.”
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…