Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• 4th CAG Det. C prepares to move into Iraq USMC 03 Apr 2003 -- In keeping with President George W. Bush?s promise to aid the Iraqi people, Marines from the 4th Civil Affairs Group (CAG), headquartered at Anacostia Naval Station, Washington, D.C., are preparing to move from here to Task Force Tarawa?s forward area in An Nasiriyah, Iraq.

• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 2, Number 12 03 Apr 2003 -- ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN AFGHAN STATE BUILDING: THE CASE OF THE AFGHAN CONSTITUTION / TWO U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN... / ...CLOSE TO WHERE AN AID WORKER WAS KILLED / U.S. AND AFGHAN TROOPS ARE ATTACKED IN KANDAHAR, NANGARHAR PROVINCES / ISAF COMES UNDER ATTACK IN KABUL... / ...BUT NO LINK MADE WITH WAR IN IRAQ... / ...AND ISAF LAYS THE BLAME ON HEKMATYAR / SENIOR TALIBAN COMMANDER WARNS OF MORE ATTACKS AS WAR CONTINUES IN IRAQ... / ...AS TALIBAN LEADER ISSUES FATWA AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN / SCORES OF TALIBAN, INCLUDING HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS, ARRESTED IN GHAZNI... / ...AS TALIBAN MEMBERS REPORTEDLY KILLED, ARRESTED IN KANDAHAR / U.S. CONCERNED ABOUT ESCALATION OF ATTACKS IN AFGHANISTAN / ETHNIC FIGHTING FLARES UP NEAR AFGHAN-TURKMEN BORDER... / ...IN FIGHTING THAT RADIO AFGHANISTAN BLAMES ON TALIBAN... / ...AS BADGHIS COMMANDER GIVES DISPUTED VERSION OF EVENTS / SIX KILLED IN HELMAND PROVINCE MINE BLAST / KABUL PAPER 'PUZZLED' BY AFGHANISTAN'S OFFICIAL SUPPORT FOR WAR IN IRAQ... / ...AS AFGHANS PROTEST AGAINST IRAQ WAR / KABUL ADMINISTRATION 'INCENSED' BY TREATMENT OF JOURNALISTS IN HERAT... / ...WITH SENTIMENTS ECHOED BY INFORMATION AND CULTURE MINISTER / PAKISTAN REFUSES TRANSIT RIGHTS FOR INDIAN GOODS DESTINED FOR AFGHANISTAN... / ...AS ISLAMABAD TRIES TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH KABUL / INDIA, RUSSIA TO HELP AFGHANISTAN OBTAIN AN ALTERNATIVE ROUTE TO THE SEA / AFGHANISTAN TO GET FUNDS FROM WORLD BANK / UN EXTENDS ASSISTANCE MISSION'S MANDATE IN AFGHANISTAN / AFGHAN HISTORY RECEIVES A HELPING HAND / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY

Other Conflicts

• Security Council welcomes Burundian leader's decision to follow peace accord UN News Centre 03 Apr 2003 -- Members of the United Nations Security Council today welcomed the announcement by President Pierre Buyoya of Burundi that he will hand over power to his deputy on 1 May, as agreed in a peace deal.
• Timor-Leste: UN transfers security duties in Lautem district to local police UN News Centre 03 Apr 2003 -- The United Nations today handed over police duties to local authorities in the Lautem district of Timor-Leste, the first such locality to have full responsibility for overall security and law enforcement.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- Israeli troops killed six Palestinians and wounded eight more, during separate raids Thursday in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
• I-H-F-CHECHNYA VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights wants the international community to set up a tribunal to try war crimes and crimes against humanity in Chechnya.
• PHILIPPINES/BLAST VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- In the Philippines, gunmen opened fire and threw grenades at three mosques in the city of Davao - several hours after a bomb outside the city's port killed at least 16 people.
• IVORY COAST-GOVERNMENT VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- All the rebel groups in Ivory Coast have joined a reconciliation government, marking what many hope is the end of a six-month war in the West African country.
• Middle East Partnership Initiative Designed to Benefit Arab World Washington File 03 Apr 2003 -- The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is designed to work with governments and people in the Arab world to "expand economic, political and educational opportunities for all," according to a fact sheet released by the State Department April 3.

Defense Policy / Programs

• White House Press Gaggle White House 03 Apr 2003
• AF provides Congress with Raptor update AFPN 03 Apr 2003 -- Air dominance is the first priority of any combat commander and the F/A-22 Raptor will provide it for them, Lt. Gen. John D.W. Corley said in congressional testimony April 2.
• Command releases F-16 accident report ACCNS 03 Apr 2003 -- Air Force investigators have determined pilot error caused two F-16CGs to collide Dec. 18, while performing a four-ship night vision goggle training mission.
• Congress ponders exchange merger AFPN 03 Apr 2003 -- Department of Defense leaders met with the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on total force April 2 to discuss the future of the department's three exchange services.
• Tower a pinnacle of support for fliers AFPN 03 Apr 2003 -- As B-52 Stratofortresses lift off from a deployed location, the last person to wish them well is not the commander or maintainers. It is Airman 1st Class Jeremy Beecher, an air traffic controller with the 457th Air Expeditionary Group.
• USS Peleliu Adds a New Weapon to Its Arsenal Navy NewStand 03 Apr 2003 -- Some old friends dropped in on the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) recently for a historic visit.
• U.S. Official Describes Powell Meeting with NATO-EU Officials Washington File 03 Apr 2003 -- In a meeting in Brussels April 3 with his NATO and European Union counterparts, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the military situation in Iraq and invited ideas on how to work together on establishing democracy in Iraq and on moving ahead on the roadmap for peace in the Middle East.
• Training the Sea Warrior: BOA Validates Additional AT/FP Needs, Fast Cruise Curriculum Navy NewStand 03 Apr 2003 -- To ensure Sailors are ready to meet the demands of being a sea warrior, the Navy's senior enlisted leaders, who make up the Basic Military Training/Navy Military Training Board of Advisors (BOA), continue their validation of the Navy's boot camp curriculum and are now working on standardizing Navy Military Training (NMT) courses and their delivery fleetwide.
• MSC Activates Ship Status Hotline MSC 03 Apr 2003 -- Concerned family members of mariners serving aboard any Military Sealift Command and government owned or chartered ship can now check on a ship's status and general location, toll free.
• BACKGROUND REPORT Women in the Military VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- Women have served in some way in every one of America's conflicts since the War of Independence in the seventeen-hundreds. The first American service women taken prisoner were captured in the eighteen-hundreds during the Civil War.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 03 Apr 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 03 Apr 2003
• SOUTHERN AFRICA AID VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- The head of the U-N Children's Fund says she fears the lingering effects of war in Iraq will make it harder to raise money for other humanitarian crises around the world, such as the southern Africa food crisis.
• SERBIA/REFORM VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- Balkan experts speaking at a forum on Serbia's future say they see hopeful signs that the leadership in Belgrade will continue reforms begun by Prime Miniser Zoran Djindjic, who was assassinated last month.
• BURMA / HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- A U-N human rights expert is calling for the unconditional release of more than one-thousand political prisoners being held by the governing military junta in Burma. In a report submitted to the U-N Human Rights Commission, the investigator acknowledges human rights have improved somewhat in Burma, but he says the progress has been very limited.
• U-S/CUBA/DISSIDENTS VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- The United States is condemning in unusually strong terms the Cuban government's move to put on trial at least 78 political dissidents. The State Department says the dissidents face what it termed "summary justice" in "kangaroo courts."
• AFGHANISTAN / HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- A United Nations expert on Afghanistan says the country needs sustained financial and political support from the international community if security and human rights are to take root.
• CHINA / U-S / HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- China has issued a report condemning U-S unilateral policies and violations of human rights around the world. The Chinese broadside comes in response to the State Department's annual human rights report, which is critical of China.
• BURMA SUU KYI TOUR VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has embarked on a 10-day political organizing trip in northern Chin state. The trip starts as the prospects for political reform in Burma look bleak.
• ASIA PNEUMONIA CHINA VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- Beijing officials say the serious illness called SARS is under control in China, making it safe to visit the country. The comments follow travel warnings issued by U-N experts about the new flu-like disease, which has sickened more than two-thousand people and killed nearly 80-people worldwide.
• ASIA PNEUMONIA VOA 03 Apr 2003 -- Hong Kong schools will remain closed for a few more weeks in hope of stemming the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The city, which is at the center of a global battle against SARS, is struggling to determine why the disease continues to spread, despite efforts to contain it.
• Kirkpatrick Says Rights Commission Must Help Ameliorate Abuses Washington File 03 Apr 2003 -- The most essential task of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights is exposing and helping to ameliorate egregious abuses committed by governments against their own citizens, says Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, head of the U.S. delegation to the commission's 59th annual session in Geneva.
• U.S. Condemns Initiation of Trials Against Activists in Cuba Washington File 03 Apr 2003 -- The United States condemns the initiation of trials against at least 78 members of Cuban civil society for simply pursuing their right to assembly, according to an April 3 statement by State Department Deputy Spokesman Phillip Reeker.
• Text: Kaminsky Says Rights Commission Not Balanced on Middle East Washington File 03 Apr 2003 -- Speaking at the 59th Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights on the subject of the roadmap for peace in the Middle East March 31, Phyllis Kaminsky said the commission's actions, "which cast all blame on Israel for the situation, are not balanced, fair or helpful to the cause of peace."