US Navy – Aboard the new nuclear attack submarine USS Virginia.

• Virginian Pilot: Technology redefines life of the submariner

US Marines – With the Marines in Liberia.

• Daily Telegraph: ‘These guys just think it’s a big party’

Background – Persian Gulf – The sweeping military victory in Iraq has cleared the way for the United States to establish yet another framework for Persian Gulf security. Ironically, with Saddam Hussein gone, the problems are actually going to get more challenging in some ways. The three main issues will be Iraqi power, Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and domestic unrest in the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. None will be easy to handle, let alone all three together.

• Foreign Affairs: Securing the Gulf