US Navy – A new set of naval ocean surveillance satellites is launched.

• Aviation Week: Sea recons readied –
  NRO to bolster space-based ocean surveillance to track suspicious ships

• Spaceflight Now: Atlas soars on secret mission under cover of darkness
• Spaceflight Now: Observers track secret satellites launched Tuesday

Background – Iraq – Michael Gordon surveys an expert on what went wrong with the post-war planning in Iraq.

• New York Times: Nation-Building in Iraq: Lessons From the Past