Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution discusses whether the lives of average Iraqis have improved over the years. He examines the state of security and other aspects of Iraqi life as the U.S. prepares to cut its military presence by more than half next year.

The U.S. is disputing the number of Afghan civilians killed by airstrikes earlier this month, citing much lower figures than the Afghan government. Jason Motlagh of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting writes that this is not the first time that the U.S. has disputed civilian casualty figures.