Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• Coalition Nabs Four Suspected Bandits in Gulf Navy Newsstand 30 Sept 2003-- U.S. and coalition maritime interception forces (MIF) operating in the North Arabian Gulf apprehended four suspected bandits Sept. 29 after they allegedly robbed several cargo dhows.

• First Tri-Lateral firing exercise in Djibouti Marine Corps News 30 Sept 2003-- Marines from Mike Co., Task Force Rawhide, 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism) and soldiers from 3rd platoon, Charlie Company, 10th Mountain Division, trained alongside host nation militaries here during a live-fire training exercise that included helicopter operations Sept. 24.

• Liberia Mission Winds Down AFPS 30 Sept 2003-- The U.S. Joint Task Force that participated in stability operations in Liberia is pulling out, Defense Department officials said.
• ARMITAGE / LIBERIA VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Members of Congress have pressed a senior U-S official about the Bush administration's commitment to stabilizing Liberia. The exchanges came during a hearing in a House of Representatives committee on President Bush's request for 87-billion dollars for U-S military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan
• LIBEREIA/U-N VOA 30 Sept 2003-- The United Nations is preparing to assume peacekeeping duties in Liberia

• Afghanistan: U.S. Soldier Killed, Two Wounded In Gun Battle RFE/RL 30 Sep 2003 -- A U.S. soldier and two Afghan militants were killed during a gun battle in southeastern Afghanistan yesterday.
• AFGHAN / CONSTITUTION VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Afghanistan is preparing to unveil a draft of its new constitution, a document with a goal of, among other things, bridging the gap between the country's Islamic and secular groups

Other Conflicts

• What military attaches of 22 countries saw on LoC in J&K IRNA 30 Sep 2003 -- When military attaches and defense diplomats of 24 countries flew over 16,000 ft high altitude snow covered ridges of north Kashmir on Monday, they saw more than a heavily militarized frontier there.
• Russia: Armed Men Kill Five Police In Daghestan RFE/RL 30 Sep 2003 -- Police in Russia's southern Daghestan Republic say armed men attacked a police vehicle there today killing at least five police officers.
• NEPAL/REBELLION VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Nepal, one of the world's poorest countries, is again grappling with renewed violence following the recent collapse of peace talks between Maoist rebels and the government
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Israeli troops on Tuesday blew up the home of an Islamic Jihad gunman they said shot dead two Israelis in the West Bank on the eve of the Jewish New Year. One of the victims was a seven-month-old baby
• ISRAEL/SECURITY FENCE VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is pressing ahead with plans to build a West Bank security fence that includes major Jewish settlements, despite U-S objections
• U-N/ISRAEL VOA 30 Sept 2003-- A U-N special investigator is calling Israel's construction of a security wall in the West Bank and East Jerusalem an act of conquest
• HAGUE/MILOSEVIC TRIAL VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Judges and lawyers at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague are trying to speed up the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, despite his health problems. His high blood pressure and other health issues have reduced trial proceedings to just three days a week.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Smallpox Research Project Data Presented 30 Sep 2003 -- At a presentation today at the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D.C., United Devices, IBM and Accelrys, along with several technology and research partners, delivered the results of the Smallpox Research Grid project to representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense. The event marked the completion of an important first-stage in finding a treatment for smallpox.
• Airlines Offer Discounts to R&R Troops AFPS 30 Sept 2003-- Service members returning home from Southwest Asia for rest and recuperation leave can now get discount fares for connecting flights after they arrive at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
• Navy Names New Amphibious Assault Ship Makin Island Navy Newsstand 30 Sept 2003-- The U.S. Navy has selected the name Makin Island for its next amphibious assault ship, which honors the daring raid carried out by Marine Corps Companies A and B, Second Raider Battalion, on Japanese-held Makin Island, in the Gilbert Islands, Aug. 17-18, 1942.

• Sweden to refrain from entering NATO IRNA 30 Sep 2003 -- Sweden will refrain from entering NATO which will have a positive effect on Russo-Swedish relations, Bjorn von Sydow, the speaker of Swedish parliament (Riksdag), told Tass on Tuesday.

• US. agrees to Pakistan`s required weapons` list IRNA 30 Sep 2003 -- The US defense department has agreed to the list of all the defence procurement items given by Pakistan.

• Pakistani fighter plane crashes near Karachi IRNA 30 Sep 2003 -- A French-made Mirage fighter of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed near the port city of Karachi on Tuesday, a PAF spokesman said.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 30 Sep 2003 -- EU bicker on timing of power transfer in Iraq; not on the principle / Fewer than 50 U.N. international staff left in Iraq / Syrian president says he is not worried over U.S. accusations / NATO military presents plans for expanding peacekeeping role in Afghanistan / U.S. winds down Liberia mission, warships head off
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 30 Sep 2003 -- Poland discusses with NATO possible bases transfer / NATO says ready for individual partnership with Turkmenistan / Italy proposes European "virtual headquarters" for crisis management as EU defense embryo / FYROM's Defense Minister Buckovski, NATO's Admiral Feist discuss Concordia, security, defense reforms

• BURMA / U-N ENVOY VOA 30 Sept 2003-- United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail began a three-day visit to Rangoon Tuesday amid efforts to revive stalled political reconciliation talks as well as press for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's release
• State Department Noon Briefing, September 30, 2003 Washington File 30 Sept 2003-- Israel/Palestinians, Pakistan, Armitage/travels to South and Central Asia, Rocca/travels to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Afghanistan, Greece, Colombia, North Korea, Liberia, Burma
• POWELL-COLOMBIA VOA 30 Sept 2003-- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Tuesday says his government will remain open to international human rights groups, though it reserves the right to criticize their findings. The Colombian leader, who met Tuesday with Secretary of State Colin Powell, ignited a controversy three weeks ago when he suggested that some human rights critics of his government were terrorist sympathizers
• U.S. Sends $310 Million to U.N. Refugee Agency in 2003 Washington File 30 Sept 2003-- The United States will contribute another $13 million to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), pushing its total donation for 2003 over $310 million. The State Department announced the latest donation September 30.
• White House Daily Briefing, September 30, 2003 Washington File 30 Sept 2003-- White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan briefed reporters on Air Force One the morning of September 30 as they accompanied President Bush on a trip to Chicago, Illinois.
• U.S. Delegation to OSCE Human Dimension Meeting in Warsaw Washington File 30 Sept 2003-- Ambassador Pamela Hyde Smith will lead the U.S. delegation to the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting hosted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) October 6-17 in Warsaw.
• BUSH / CHICAGO VOA 30 Sept 2003-- President Bush says much work remains to be done in the war on terrorism and to further economic opportunity in the United States
• BUSH ON U.S. AND RUSSIA VOA 30 Sept 2003-- The Cold War days are over. Soviet Communism has long since ceased to be a threat to world peace. In recent years, the U.S. and Russia have made progress in building a new relationship. One that, as President George W. Bush describes, is both broad and strong: