Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• PENTAGON/IRAQ/WAR CRIMES VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- This is Veterans Day in the United States --- a solemn day to honor all those men and women who have served in the armed forces. The commemoration is taking on special significance this year because tens-of-thousand of military personnel are deployed in Iraq. Nearly 400 have been killed there, and over two-thousand wounded. Some of them may have been the victims of Iraqi war crimes.
• Coalition Detains 18 Suspects in Al Rasheed Attack AFPS 10 Nov 2003 -- Coalition personnel conducted raids Sunday in and around Baghdad, Iraq, and detained 18 men suspected of taking part in the Oct. 26 Al Rasheed Hotel missile attack, a Pentagon spokesman said.
• Nineveh Civil Defense Headquarters Opens AFPS 10 Nov 2003 -- The headquarters for all fire stations in the Nineveh province of Northern Iraq opened Oct. 30 after soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) helped to rebuild it.
• Turkey: Withholding Of Troops Complicates U.S. Mission In Iraq RFE/RL 10 Nov 2003 -- The U.S. Defense Department hopes to reduce the number of U.S. forces in Iraq by next spring while increasing the number of indigenous and foreign troops to maintain a robust peacekeeping presence. Now Turkey, which had tentatively planned to contribute about 10,000 troops, announced on 7 November that it will not do so after all.
• Iraq: U.S. Seeks Ways To Improve Security Situation RFE/RL 10 Nov 2003 -- Amid a spate of attacks on U.S. troops and new counterinsurgency operations in the center of the country, some U.S. officials are warning that violence in Iraq could increase over the months ahead unless Washington finds better security strategies.
• Iraq: U.S. Forces Clashing With Turkish-Kurdish Fighters RFE/RL 10 Nov 2003 -- There has been an escalation of violence reported in northern Iraq, with Turkish-Kurdish fighters clashing with U.S. coalition forces.

• U.S. to Give $1.6 Billion to Speed Up Afghan Reconstruction Projects Washington File 10 Nov 2003 -- With an eye towards Afghanistan's first post-Taliban elections in June 2004, the United States is accelerating its reconstruction aid to generate "visible, measurable, on-the-ground results," said Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs John Taylor.

Other Conflicts

• U.S. to Judge Next Palestinian Cabinet Based on Anti-Terrorism Fight Washington File 10 Nov 2003 -- The Bush administration will judge the next Palestinian cabinet, expected to be confirmed by the Palestinian legislature within several days, on the basis of the effectiveness of its fight against terrorism, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said.
• Annan says Côte d'Ivoire peace process encounters serious difficulties UN News Centre 10 Nov 2003 -- The peace process in Côte d'Ivoire has encountered serious difficulties in the last three months and the fundamental differences between government and opposition must be urgently addressed if it is to remain on track, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest report on the United Nations mission there.
• Conflict must end in Africa's Great Lakes area for human rights to improve - UN UN News Centre 10 Nov 2003 -- A United Nations-sponsored conference on peace, security and stability in Africa's Great Lakes region is an initiative towards improving human rights observance, but the continued clashes are obstacles to that end, a report to a UN General Assembly committee says.
• UN mission to address ceasefire violations in Liberia tomorrow UN News Centre 10 Nov 2003 -- The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) will tackle the recent ceasefire violations at the next Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) meeting, scheduled for tomorrow.
• DR of Congo presents frightening picture of human rights abuses - UN expert UN News Centre 10 Nov 2003 -- Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) "create a frightening picture of one of the most serious human rights situations in the world," according to a report to the United Nations General Assembly.
• UN peacekeepers involved in armed clashes with militias in DR of Congo UN News Centre 10 Nov 2003 -- United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were involved in several armed confrontations over the weekend with members of a number of militias in the eastern town of Bunia, scene of fierce fighting between rival rebel factions earlier this year.
• India`s Assam to raise people`s army to combat insurgency IRNA 10 Nov 2003 -- The government in India`s northeastern state of Assam Monday decided to raise a people`s army by providing villagers with weapons to combat separatist insurgency in the region, officials said.
• SRI LANKA/PEACE TALKS VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- Sri Lankan officials say peace talks with Tamil rebels will be indefinitely postponed until a political crisis gripping the country is resolved. Norwegian mediators are to arrive by Tuesday to discuss the fragile peace process with the government and the rebels.
• UGANDA / REBEL ATTACKS VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- The Ugandan government says it is expanding local militias and sheltering people in security camps, following five days of rebel attacks that killed more than 60 people in northern Uganda. But churches object to arming civilians.
• ISRAEL/LEBANON VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- planned prisoner exchange between Israel and Lebanon is running into trouble after new threats emerged from both sides.
• SUDAN/AID REQUESTED VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- The United Nations is calling for nearly 23-million dollars to help people suffering in a little-known war in western Sudan.
• IVORY COAST PEACE VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- Five heads of state from the West African economic group ECOWAS, will be meeting Tuesday in Ghana to try to help restore the faltering peace process in Ivory Coast.

Defense Policy / Programs

• PENTAGON/ASIA VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has disclosed he will travel to Asia later this week to visit U-S troops and to confer with officials in Japan and South Korea. Mr. Rumsfeld unveiled his plans after holding historic talks at the Pentagon earlier Monday with the defense minister of another Asian country, Pham Van Tra of Vietnam.

• Indian Navy to set up base for UAVs in Andamans IRNA 10 Nov 2003 -- The Indian Navy is planning to set up a base for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Andaman Islands in India`s Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal to increase its surveillance capacity in the region.
• India test fires supersonic anti-ship cruise Brahmos missile IRNA 10 Nov 2003 -- Brahmos, the supersonic anti-ship cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia, was on Sunday successfully tested from the Interim Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore in the eastern Indian state of Orissa for the fifth time, India`s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) sources said.
• HSL-37 Easyriders Come Home Navy Newsstand 10 Nov 2003-- The morning of Nov 2., loved ones gathered on the flight line of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Light Squadron (HSL) 37, as two SH-60B Seahawk helicopters carried the entire Easyrider air crew to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay. It had been 233 days since they had last seen each other.
• Global Hawk returns from Germany AFPN 10 Nov 2003-- The Air Force's Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle has returned home from a successful three-week deployment to Germany, according to program officials.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 10 Nov 2003 -- Lord Robertson says rebuilding of Afghanistan must continue / U.S. military chief warns of rogue missile attacks / U.S. senator suggests NATO security force for Iraq
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 10 Nov 2003 --Ten countries to join multinational anti-chemical unit / U.S. Democrats renew call for NATO aid in Iraq / Lord Robertson reportedly wants Austrian reconstruction team for Afghanistan / Lord Robertson: Neutral states would not be excluded from EU planning cell at SHAPE / New polls in Georgia after protest

• State Department Noon Briefing, November 10, 2003 Washington File 10 Nov 2003 -- Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Bahrain, Israel/Palestinians, Iraq, Liberia/Nigeria, Lebanon/Israel, Vietnam, Japan, Guatemala, Iran/IAEA report, Burma, South Korea/China/Japan/North Korea

• BUSH SPEECH ON MIDEAST DEMOCRACY US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign media Reaction November 10, 2003
• BURMA / U-N VOA 10 Nov 2003 -- The United Nations human rights envoy to Burma says the government has told him it has released eight of 35 people who detained during a crackdown on supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi. However, the envoy, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, adds the pro-democracy leader and nine senior party leaders still do not have freedom.