While other news media are reporting what the Quadrennial Defense Review will contain, Mark Mazzetti of the Los Angeles Times has taken note of one thing it does not consider: another Iraq. In fact, a Pentagon official told Mazzetti that the Iraq regime change is “clearly a one-off.” The official added, “There is certainly no intention to do it again.” We call this further evidence of what appears to be another QDR without a solid foundation in fact. Let’s be real: The 2005 QDR, as Air Force Magazine Editor in Chief Robert Dudney indicated in December, is probably quite like its earlier brethren, a budget-cutting drill. No more, no less.
A record investment in research and development by the Department of the Air Force will help the United States win the long-term technology race with China, even while shrinking the fleet size before a possible mid-decade Taiwan contingency, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 17. “With the Air Force,…