Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• AFGHANISTAN / U-S VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- Coalition forces in Afghanistan have expanded operation Valiant Strike in the southern part of the country. Three large weapons caches have been found since the operation began last week.
• Another Air Assault Launched in Afghanistan AFPS 25 Mar 2003 -- Coalition forces conducted another air assault in the Sami Ghar Mountains of Afghanistan today, Combined Joint Task Force-180 officials said.

Other Conflicts

• POWELL / MIDEAST VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirmed Tuesday that the international "roadmap" to an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord will be released as soon as a Palestinian government headed by prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas is confirmed by legislators.
• NIGERIA / UNREST VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- In Nigeria, the army is trying to restore order following ethnic unrest that has disrupted oil production in the Niger River delta.
• Security Council extends mandate of UN mission in Western Sahara by 2 months UN News Centre 25 Mar 2003 -- In an effort to give the parties more time to consider a United Nations proposal outlining a political solution to the situation in Western Sahara, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN mission responsible for organizing a referendum for the territory by two months.
• Transcript: Powell on U.S. Commitment to Mideast Peace Process, Iraqi People Washington File 25 Mar 2003 -- The Bush Administration believes "firmly that everything has to be done to get the Middle East peace process moving again," Secretary of State Powell said March 25, noting that President Bush has announced that upon confirmation of a new Palestinian Prime Minister, the Quartet we would release a roadmap for peace.
• KASHMIR VIOLENCE VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- India's deputy prime minister has blamed Pakistan for the continuing violence in Indian Kashmir, where 24 Hindus were killed in an attack by suspected Islamic rebels on Monday. Lal Krishna Advani has visited the troubled region, which has witnessed a sharp surge in violence in recent weeks.
• U-S-CENTRAL AFRICA VOA 24 Mar 2003 -- The United States Monday urged the new leaders of the Central African Republic to put forward plans to restore democracy to the country after the March 15th coup.

Defense Policy / Programs

• White House Press Briefing White House 25 Mar 2003
• Pentagon Seeks $62,600 Million in Additional Money for FY03 Washington File 25 Mar 2003 -- The Pentagon March 25 asked Congress for $62,600 million in additional funding for the fiscal year ending September 30 (FY03).
• Smallpox vaccine program extends to 'emergency essential' civilians AFPN 25 Mar 2003 -- Civilian employees deployed to fill emergency-essential positions at selected overseas locations are now required to receive the smallpox vaccine, Pentagon officials said.
• Bush Calls Wartime Supplemental Budget Request 'Urgent' AFPS 25 Mar 2003 -- The president said today his $74.7 billion wartime supplemental budget request is urgent and "directly related to winning this war and to securing the peace that will follow this war."
• AFGHANISTAN PRISONERS VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- Eighteen Afghan men held for months at the U-S detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba were released to their families in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Most of the men say they were well treated at Guantanamo Bay, but they also say they areangry they were held for so long.
• CONGRESS BUDGET VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- The Senate Wednesday is scheduled to vote on President Bush's two-point-two trillion dollar budget for next year. Amid concerns over the cost of the U-S-led war to disarm Iraq, Senators Tuesday voted to halve Mr. Bush's proposed tax cut package in a blow to his plan to stimulate the U-S economy.
• C-17 delivers on a promise AMCNS 25 Mar 2003 -- More than just the arrival of Charleston's newest aircraft, the C-17 delivery here March 19 represented a sort of culmination of history for those aboard.
• Act may protect active-duty reservists AFPN 25 Mar 2003 -- Guardsmen and reservists called to active duty to fight the global war on terror may seek credit protection under a law passed to aid GIs in an earlier global war.
• AMC demonstrates war technology on Capitol Hill Army News 25 Mar 2003 -- Representatives from the Army Materiel Command's research facilities demonstrated technology being used by the Army in the war on terrorism March 21 at the Senate Russell Building.
• HMH-463 tops off exercise with rapid ground refueling USMC News 25 Mar 2003 -- Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 wasted no time improving unit readiness with a rapid ground refueling exercise while en route to their recent deployment to the Republic of the Philippines.
• Deploying behind the scenes USMC News 25 Mar 2003 -- The Marine Corps is known by the world as a force in readiness. Throughout history Marines have proven this statement true by deploying in various environments and climates to enhance and sharpen the skills they'll need in time of conflict.
• PIFD applies HAZMAT training to Beaufort fire USMC News 25 Mar 2003 -- The Parris Island Fire Department responded as the Hazardous Material Team to a chemical fire at Athena Marble in Beaufort March 10.
• Michigan Reserves are locked, loaded in defense of CJTF-HOA USMC News 25 Mar 2003 -- As U.S. forces and coalition partners wage war with Iraq, force protection here has increased the number of Marines on duty protecting the camp, added specialized training to counteract threats and also made engineer improvements to the camp's landscape, according to Lt. Col. Harold J. Flanagan, force protection officer, Command Logisitics Element, a native of New Orleans.
• Escalating 'Sensor War' Is the Face of Future Conflict AFPS 25 Mar 2003 -- Military commanders of the future will employ high-tech sensing equipment to detect the strength and positions of enemy forces, including those attempting to hide from prying electronic "eyes."

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 25 Mar 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 25 Mar 2003
• BEREZOVSKY ARREST VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- British police say they have arrested Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky for alleged fraud.
• ZIMBABWE / POLITICS VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- The head of Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, says his party plans to resume mass action at the end of the month if its demands for democracy are not met. The warning by Morgan Tsvangirai follows a government crackdown after a two-day strike last week paralyzed Zimbabwe's two largest cities.
• Iraq War Will Not Distract U.S. From Africa, Says U.S. Official Washington File 25 Mar 2003 -- On the day President Bush asked Congress for $75,000 million to prosecute the war in Iraq, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner told Africans their political and development needs would not be forgotten by the Administration.
• ASIA PNEUMONIA VOA 25 Mar 2003 -- The World Health Organization says it may issue a much more stringent travel advisory on Asian cities with deadly pneumonia outbreaks. A tougher warning could seriously hurt the Asian economy.
• Alternate Theories Emerge on Cause of Fast-Spreading Flu Washington File 25 Mar 2003 -- An international research collaboration that participants describe as "unprecedented" has produced several alternate hypotheses on the cause of a previously unknown flu-like disease. The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in a March 24 news briefing at the agency's Atlanta, Georgia, headquarters that a coronavirus -- related to the virus causing the common cold -- has emerged as a likely cause of the illness.
• ASIAN PNEUMONIA / PROBE VOA 24 Mar 2003 -- U-S health authorities say a previously unknown virus might be the cause of the Asian pneumonia that has killed 17 people worldwide and infected more than 400 others as of Monday.