Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• ATTACKS AVOIDED, WEAPONS CONFISCATED IN NORTHERN IRAQ CENTCOM 01 Aug 2003 -- Possible attacks were foiled and prevented as Coalition forces disrupted a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a fuel convoy and located a large weapons cache in northern Iraq.
• Memphis Marines assume new mission Marine Corps News 01 Aug 2003-- In order to broaden the coalition presence in southern Iraq, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment relocated to Aziziyah, Iraq July 28.

• Myers Convinced of Coalition Progress in Iraq, Afghanistan AFPS 01 Aug 2003 -- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came away from his just-concluded Iraq and Afghanistan visit pleased with the progress the coalition is making in both countries.

• U-N / LIBERIA VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The U-N Security Council has adopted a U-S drafted resolution authorizing a multi-national force to try to end the crisis in Liberia. The United Nations that the resolution passed by a 12-to-0 vote.
• Security Council authorizes multinational force for Liberia UN News Centre 01 Aug 2003 -- Deeply concerned over the conflict in Liberia, the tragic loss of innocent lives and the dire humanitarian situation there, the United Nations Security Council this evening authorized the establishment of a multinational force to support implementation of a recent ceasefire agreement between the Liberian Government and the country's two main rebel factions.
• Liberia: UN reports fresh fighting in capital, warns of food shortages UN News Centre 01 Aug 2003 -- As fighting resumed today in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, the United Nations said the appalling situation facing thousands of war-weary civilians crowding the streets has taken another grave twist: due to virtually non-existent sanitation and a lack of clean water, the city is now in the grips of a serious cholera epidemic.
• IVORY COAST / DIARRA VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Ivorian Prime Minister Seydou Diarra has called for international support to help end the fighting in Liberia, but said that the crisis in Monrovia must be resolved on a regional level. Mr. Diarra spoke to reporters in the French capital at the end of a trip to the United States and Europe to drum up support for his own, conflict-torn country.
• LIBERIA / PRESIDENT'S EXIT VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- West African representatives are in Liberia to negotiate the exit of President Charles Taylor. West African leaders say they want him out of Liberia three days after peacekeepers arrive, which is scheduled for Monday.
• CONGRESS LIBERIA VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- As President Bush considers stepping up U-S military involvement in Liberia, a key Senate Republican is offering unusual criticism of administration's handling of the situation. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator John Warner, also is voicing concern about sending American forces into the West African nation.
• PENTAGON/LIBERIA VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The U-S amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima with a contingent of American Marines on board is expected to take up position off the coast of Liberia Saturday. The arrival comes as West African peacekeepers prepare to move into Liberia.
• LIBERIA/PRESIDENT'S EXIT VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- West African foreign ministers are heading to Liberia to negotiate the exit of President Charles Taylor. Mr. Taylor has until next Thursday to get out of the country.
• THE LIBERIAN CRISIS VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Fighting has been raging for weeks in the West African country Liberia. Rebel groups have been shelling the capital, Monrovia, and have fought for control of the port city of Buchanan. Liberia's strong-man ruler, Charles Taylor, had promised to step down, but has not. Civilians, caught in the crossfire, have been pleading for outside intervention to stop the killing. Nigeria has promised to lead West African peacekeeping troops into Liberia, but wants other countries, or the United Nations, to pay for the deployment. United States Marines are moving into place off the coast of Liberia, but the U-S has called for regional powers to take the lead. What are the prospects for peace in Liberia?

Other Conflicts

• Powell Explains U.S. Concerns Over Fence to Israeli Newspaper Washington File 01 Aug 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv that the United States views with concern an Israeli security fence between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories because the fence restricts Palestinian access to their land and risks affecting the borders of a future Palestinian state.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Eleven people were reported injured Friday when Israeli troops fired rubber bullets at protesters approaching the controversial security fence in the West Bank.
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN MARRIAGES VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The Israeli parliament has passed a law to prevent Palestinians who marry Israelis from gaining citizenship or the right to live in the Jewish State. Opponents of the move say the legislation is racist, but supporters say it is necessary to prevent Palestinians from going around Israeli immigration laws and threatening Israeli security from inside the country.

• U.S. Statement on Terrorist Act on Russian Hospital Washington File 01 Aug 2003 -- The United States extends sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims of the August 1 terrorist attack on a hospital in Mozdok, a town in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, the White House said in the following statement
• Russia: Truck-Bomb Attack Kills At Least 20 In Ossetia RFE/L 01 Aug 2003 -- A vehicle packed with explosives has blown up a Russian military hospital in the southern republic of North Ossetia, killing at least 20 people and wounding many others.
• RUSSIA / EXPLOSION VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- At least 20 people are dead and scores (dozens) more injured after a powerful truck bomb exploded outside a Russian military hospital in North Ossetia, bordering break-away Chechnya. It was the latest in a string of deadly attacks on Russian targets in recent months

• Lack of talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea endangers peace - UN envoy UN News Centre 01 Aug 2003 -- Lack of direct communication between Ethiopia and Eritrea could endanger the peace process between the two countries that fought a bitter two-year long border war, and the international community must persuade them to start normalizing their relations, according to the top United Nations envoy in the region.
• RWANDA / GENOCIDE TRIAL VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- More than 100 people have been convicted by a Rwandan court for their involvement in the 1994 genocide in the largest such trial held in Rwanda to date.
• KENYA/SOMALIA/PEACE TALKS VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The Kenyan mediator in the ongoing Somali peace talks being held in Nairobi has appealed for international peacekeepers to ensure calm once Somalia's new government takes power.
• NEPAL/REBELS VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The government of Nepal has welcomed a decision by Maoist rebels to resume stalled peace talks.
• PHILIPPINES / PEACE TALKS VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Peace talks between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels resume in Malaysia Monday. There is renewed hope from both sides that a final settlement to more than 30 years of separatist conflict in the south is within reach. The talks will open with a new player at the negotiating table -- the United States.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Portland Set to Decommission NAVSEA News Wire 01 Aug 2003-- The amphibious dock landing ship USS Portland (LSD 37) will be decommissioned during a ceremony, 10 a.m., August 4, 2003, at Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va.
• New Huey completes 20k-hr fatigue test NAVAIR Release 01 Aug 2003-- The Corps' newest utility helicopter, the UH-1Y Huey, attained a rare and important helicopter milestone July 17 - 20,000 hours of fatigue testing.
• Pendleton Marines return from deployment Marine Corps News 01 Aug 2003-- Camp Pendleton was being invaded. But no one was scared, and no one was fighting back.
• Unheralded deployments lasted longer than OIF Marine Corps News 01 Aug 2003-- It wasn't the Christmas present the deployed squadron's Marines were hoping for: Instead of learning they'd be home in mid-January as scheduled, they found their stay in Okinawa had no end in sight.
• 726th ACS rolls through convoy training Air Combat Command News 01 Aug 2003-- A sea of camouflaged helmets, people, water containers, web harnesses and tips of M-16s rustled in anticipation on a recent hot and sunny morning here.
• Ramstein begins building new southern runway USAFE News 01 Aug 2003-- Ramstein will begin a major construction project associated with the Rhein-Main Transition Program next week.
• Schoomaker Sworn in as Army Chief 01 Aug 2003 -- Gen. Pete Schoomaker was sworn in today at the Pentagon as the Army's 35th chief of staff by Les Brownlee, acting secretary of the Army.
• PENTAGON/AFRICA TRAINING VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The Bush Administration is pressing ahead with ambitious plans for training African troops in peacekeeping and other soldier skills. Consideration is even being given to an acceleration of the current training schedule despite a shortfall in available American military experts.
• U.S. Naval Forces Conduct Back-to-back Multinational Exercises in Eastern Pacific Navy Newsstand 01 Aug 2003-- USS Stump (DD 978) and USS McInerney (FFG 8) recently completed two major exercises in support of Commander, U.S. Southern Command's Theater Security Strategy. Stump and McInerney participated first in UNITAS 44-03 Pacific Phase in the seas off of the Ecuadorian coast, followed immediately by their participation in PANAMAX 2003, the first multinational, joint exercise designed as a response to potential sea-borne threats to the Panama Canal.
• Transcript: Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz Interview with The Laura Ingraham Show 01 Aug 2003 -- Telephone interview with Nancy Collins, The Laura Ingraham Show
• Secretary Colin L. Powell Interview by Regional Syndicates Dept. Of State 01 Aug 2003 -- "I would not say that China is not a gorilla in using your context, not my context. But what North Korea has been doing is in direct contravention to understandings and agreements they have with some of their neighbors, especially South Korea, and it is the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, who said at Crawford last fall that the Chinese policy is a denuclearized peninsula. And therefore, North Korea has to explain and answer to China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States the nature of their policies and everybody has an equity. So I think it is quite appropriate, in fact, I think it is essential that all of the parties be involved."

• U.S. Company Fined for Export Violation Washington File 01 Aug 2003 -- A Connecticut-based company has agreed to pay a $171,500 civil penalty for violating Export Administration Regulations by exporting unlicensed centrifugal pumps to China, Taiwan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, according to a July 28 Department of Commerce news release.

• Establishing "One China" Policy Could Be Peaceful or Forceful AFPS 01 Aug 2003 -- The People's Republic of China would prefer to resolve the issue of Taiwan's independence peacefully, even as leaders of the communist country seek military options to enforce its policy of "One China," cites a Defense Department report.
• CHINA MISSILES / TAIWAN VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Beijing is denouncing a Pentagon report that says China is pointing more missiles at rival Taiwan in case of a future conflict. Chinese officials call the report an excuse for the United States sell more weapons to Taiwan.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 01 Aug 2003 -- Serbia vows to nab all war crimes suspects by 2004 / Croats' support for joining EU and NATO slightly shrinking / NATO says Bosnia must cut number of weapons sites / Hans Blix says U.S. President Bush did not lie / Rebuilding Iraq may cost up to US $100 billion / U.S. warships to reach Liberia coast by Saturday / Israel to hold joint naval exercises with U.S. and Turkey
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 01 Aug 2003 -- Evidence of WMD plotting found in Iraq / NATO to help Slovak Air Force integrate into common air defense / UN Liberia mission could be months away / North Korea appears willing to hold new weapons talks

• CONGRESS FOREIGN POLICY VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- A U-S Senate Democrat has delivered a scathing criticism of President Bush's foreign policy, saying it has led to a more dangerous world.
• BELGIUM/ WAR CRIMES VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The Belgian parliament has enacted legislation to change a controversial war crimes law under which cases were filed against President Bush and many other world leaders.
• ZIMBABWE / ECONOMY VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Zimbabwe's informal economy, where most people work, has been hardest hit by the deepening shortage of bank notes. A cashless society, encouraged by the ministry of finance this week, will not work for most people.
• PHILIPPINES/ARROYO VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- A member of the Philippine cabinet says Sunday's failed military mutiny may have been part of a larger plot to kill President Gloria Arroyo. Mrs. Arroyo is keeping a state of emergency in effect while her government investigates the uprising.
• THAILAND / BURMA VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- Burma's foreign minister says the military government will not prolong the detention of democracy-activist Aung San Suu Kyi. But the generals still refuse to give a timetable for her release.
• EDITORIAL: BURMA'S RULERS PAYING THE PRICE VOA 01 Aug 2003 -- The price of repression is going up for Burma's military junta. President George W. Bush has signed a new law strengthening sanctions on the Burmese regime. Among other measures, the legislation bans the import of Burmese products, freezes the assets of senior Burmese officials, and bans virtually all transfers of money from the U.S. to Burma. President Bush said "these measures reaffirm to the people of Burma that the United States stands with them in their struggle for democracy and freedom."