Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• SOLDIER DIES IN KABUL FOLLOWING TRAINING RUN CENTCOM 20 May 2003 -- A U.S. Soldier died of unknown causes Sunday in Kabul after completing a physical training run.
• V CORPS ENGINEERS HELP BAGHDAD CITIZENS IN 'TASK FORCE NEIGHBORHOOD' V Corps Release 20 May 2003-- V Corps soldiers are helping local citizens here improve their neighborhoods as coalition forces help Iraqi leaders create a new government.

Other Conflicts

• Afghanistan: Provincial Governors Promise To Deliver Millions In Back Revenues As Karzai Clamps Down RFE/L 20 May 2003 -- During a meeting with Transitional Authority Chairman Hamid Karzai today, Afghan provincial governors promised to deliver millions of dollars of customs revenue owed to the central government. Karzai has criticized the governors for failing to transfer such money to the cash-strapped central government. He also admitted that his government has not been able to deliver security and social justice to the Afghan people.

• Bush Talks with Palestinian and Israeli Prime Ministers Washington File 20 May 2003 -- President Bush began his day May 20 by placing a phone call to new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas -- the first time he has spoken to him, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters.
• UN helps Timor-Leste celebrate first anniversary of independence UN News Centre 20 May 2003 -- The United Nations mission in Timor-Leste helped the fledgling nation celebrate its first anniversary of independence today by opening a photo exhibition with some 80 photos, slide shows and videos highlighting the partnership between the UN and the Timorese people.
• Recent developments give 'glimmer of hope' to Middle East peace process - UN envoy UN News Centre 20 May 2003 -- Although living conditions in both Israel and the Palestinian areas were worsening, there has been significant and historic political developments in the Middle East peace process, providing a "ray of light and a glimmer of hope," the senior United Nations envoy for that region, Terje Roed-Larsen, said today.
• DR of Congo: UN mission patrols Bunia, reassures local population UN News Centre 20 May 2003 -- With the relative calm holding in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations mission in the country continues to patrol the town of Bunia, trying to ease ethnic tensions and reassure the terrified local population.
• BUSH / PALESTINIANS VOA 20 May 2003 -- President Bush Tuesday spoke for the first time with the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. They discussed efforts to fight terrorism in the Middle East and the president repeated that he is committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
• BUSH / PALESTINIANS VOA 20 May 2003 -- President Bush Tuesday spoke for the first time with the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Bush also telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss a Middle East peace plan threatened by renewed violence.
• CONGO FIGHTING VOA 20 May 2003 -- A French military team is assessing the possibility of deploying a major U-N force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local people in the town of Bunia are eager for foreign intervention to bring an end to ethnic fighting.
• LIBERIA / REFUGEES VOA 20 May 2003 -- Thousands of Liberians are streaming into Ivory Coast as the civil war in Liberia escalates in the border region. The exodus comes as Liberian rebels have taken over a key timber port town.
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 20 May 2003 -- Israeli forces have withdrawn from a town in the northern Gaza Strip that they seized in a raid last week to try to halt Palestinian rocket attacks.
• INDONESIA / ACEH VOA 20 May 2003 -- The international community is calling on the Indonesian government and Acehnese rebels to return to peace talks, after Jakarta launched a military assault on the province. But there is no sign that talks are likely to take place soon.
• JAPAN MIDEAST PEACE VOA 20 May 2003 -- Israeli and Palestinian delegates at unofficial and low-key talks in Japan are calling for their governments to implement the so-called road map for peace.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers 20 May 2003 -- "The only thing we've done that I know of is that we have proposed that the absolute ban on the study of a deep-earth penetrator has been removed from the bill at our instance, because we do intend to study a variety of types of deep earth penetrators, for very good reason. (...) That's why we want to study it. And we're kind of inclined to think that the idea that we should not be allowed to study such a weapon is not a good idea. We think it -- for one thing, I -- and then I'll ask Dick to comment on the possible use against, for example, chemical or biological storage areas, where a conventional weapon could have a disastrous effect and a low-yield nuclear weapon conceivably could have an effect that would be -- that would mitigate some of the problems with a conventional weapon. But the -- it's important to appreciate that to the extent the United States is prohibited from studying the use of such weapons -- for example, for a deep earth penetrator -- the effect in the world is that it tells the world that they're wise to invest in going underground. And that's not a good thing, from our standpoint"

• Wing, Group Marines go airborne Marine Corps News 20 May 2003-- -- Marines here were not surprised when they looked up and saw stinger missiles raining down on them. It was all part of a master plan...to re-supply them from the air.
• OIF vets from Hawaii return home Marine Corps News 20 May 2003-- Thirty-nine Marines from 1st Radio Battalion received a warm welcome home at the Honolulu International Airport late Monday evening as they returned from a three-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• CJTF-HOA helps mend rift between U.S. and Sudan Marine Corps News 20 May 2003-- A Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa United States military aircraft, on a logistics support mission, landed in Sudan May 17. It was the first time an American aircraft has landed in Sudan in ten years, according to Army Col. Dennis Giddens, a U.S. Defense Liaison Officer (DLO) in Sudan.
• ACU 5: An Exciting Alternative To Shipboard Life Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- "I love life at sea." Those words can be heard every day aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4) by Sailors who venture into the ship's well deck and onto Landing Craft (LC) 52, one of three Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs) embarked aboard Boxer in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• USS Peleliu Celebrates 23rd Birthday Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- Amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) celebrated its 23rd birthday May 3.
• Air Wing Training Resumes at Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- For months, the skies over Fallon have been relatively quiet. But, that has recently changed.
• Sailors and Marines Descend on Baumholder, Germany for Combined Endeavor 2003 Navy Newsstand 20 May 2003-- The home of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, landlocked Baumholder, Germany, has become the Navy's and Marine Corps' newest port. Sailors and Marines have converged on the town as Combined Endeavor (CE) 2003 is in full swing. A yearly U.S. European Command sponsored exercise, CE-03 involves more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel from almost 40 NATO and Partnership for Peace nations.
• KC-135 receiving communications relay ability AFPN 20 May 2003-- The KC-135 Stratotanker will soon add a communications capability to its mission.
• Bandwidth increasing for some bases AFPN 20 May 2003-- The Department of Defense is planning to beef up Internet access at 92 military installations by the end of fiscal 2004 as part of the global information grid bandwidth expansion project.
• New bearing system could cut costs AFPN 20 May 2003-- Advances in bearing systems for engines powering target drones and cruise missiles could cut costs by 20 percent and increase fuel efficiency.
• Tanker Airlift Control Center opens new ops center Air Mobility Command 20 May 2003-- After a year of planning and six months of renovation, the Air Force's newest air operations center opened for business here May 8.
• Gold Eagle to nest in Guam for flight-deck resurfacing 7th Fleet News 20 May 2003-- USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) returned to Guam May 19 to resurface the carrier's 4 ½-acre flight deck.
• New Office to Help Set DoD Intelligence Priorities AFPS 20 May 2003 -- Looking to the future and setting the defense priorities for the intelligence community will be the focus of the new Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence in the Pentagon.
• Helo detachment provides valuable service for 7th Fleet staff 7th Fleet News 20 May 2003-- As the sole method of transportation off ship while underway, the Sailors of Helicopter Squadron Light (HSL) 51 Detachment 11 are tasked with a demanding, and often self-sufficient, workload.

• EU: Official Declares Rapid Reaction Force Operational, If Not Rapid RFE/L 20 May 2003 -- The European Union yesterday declared its 60,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force operational, although acknowledging that shortcomings remain. The EU's foreign policy and security chief, Javier Solana, said last night that the EU's military capability could soon be tested in peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

News Reports

• Int'l Meeting on Nuclear Imports Opens in Busan Korea-net 20 May 2003 -- Nuclear supplier nations on Monday (May 19) started a meeting in Busan to agree on intensified monitoring measures to prevent North Korea from obtaining nuclear equipment and materials, officials said.

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 20 May 2003
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 20 May 2003
• ASIA SARS VOA 20 May 2003 -- The Philippines says it is free of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the World Health Organization says it is safe to visit the country. A top Chinese official expressed disappointment that the U-N agency has not removed travel advisories on parts of southern China and Hong Kong.
• BUSH / CUBA VOA 20 May 2003 -- President Bush marked Cuban Independence Day (Tuesday) with a broadcast message to the Cuban people and a meeting at the White House with Cuban dissidents who now live in the United States.
• U-S/CANADA/MAD COW VOA 20 May 2003 -- The United States has banned shipments of cattle and livestock products from its largest trading partner, Canada, after the discovery of a case of mad cow disease there.
• EAST TIMOR ANNIVERSARY VOA 20 May 2003 -- East Timor is celebrating its first year as an independent nation. But its leaders are struggling to use the benefits of freedom to improve life in the impoverished country.
• ASIA / SARS VOA 20 May 2003 -- As new infections of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome continue to decline in China, officials say their containment measures are working. But the World Health Organization still has reservations about Beijing's reporting methods. Meanwhile, Taiwan continues to grapple with the world's fastest growing SARS outbreak.