Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• Bush Says Afghanistan, Iraq Will be "Milestone in History of Liberty" Washington File 11 Nov 2003 -- Democracy will ultimately succeed in both Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W. Bush asserted in a speech on November 11. "And that success will be a great milestone in the history of liberty," he said in remarks to the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.

• Transcript: Coalition Provisional Authority Press Briefing CENTCOM - CPA 11 Nov 2003 -- "During the last few weeks, the pace and intensity of our offensive military operations has increased. We are taking the fight into the safe havens of the enemy, in the heartland of the country, where we continue to face former regime loyalists, criminals and foreign terrorists who are trying to isolate the coalition from the Iraqi people and trying to break the will of the coalition and the international community. They will fail. Not surprisingly, the enemy has reacted to our operations and our progress with increased violence, especially in the localized areas that benefited from the plunder and oppression of the former regime. The enemy has increasingly embraced terrorist acts. These acts are designed to attract media attention, to intimidate the Iraqi people, and, just as importantly, to create a picture of chaos in the country. The stark reality is that militarily, they cannot defeat us, and they know it. I remain supremely confident in this reality."
• MILITARY SAFETY VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- As people around the United States celebrate Veteran's Day, thousands of U-S troops continue to face danger in Iraq and Afghanistan. At one of the biggest U-S military bases, Fort Hood in central Texas, thousands of troops are preparing for deployment to Iraq early next year and they are putting their main emphasis on safety.
• Enemy Will Not Break Coalition's Will, Sanchez Says AFPS 11 Nov 2003 -- Anti-coalition forces "will fail" to break the will of the coalition and of the vast majority of the Iraqi people, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said in Baghdad, Iraq, today.
• IRAQ / MOSUL VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- The northern Iraqi city of Mosul has seen dozens of attacks on U-S troops in recent weeks, sparking fear that anti-coalition violence has spread northward from Saddam Hussein supporters' strongholds in the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad.
• Iraq: Al-Basrah Bomb Kills At Least Four Iraqis RFE/RL 11 Nov 2003 -- Iraqi police say a bomb planted on a road in the southern city of Al-Basrah exploded today, killing at least four Iraqis.
• IRAQ / SANCHEZ VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- The American commander of ground forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, says the U-S military is trying to determine the presence of the al-Qaida terrorist network in Iraq. The general is vowing to escalate the war on insurgents and terrorists who have unleashed a wave of violence across the country in recent weeks.

• Two injured after blast strikes UN compound in southern Afghanistan UN News Centre 11 Nov 2003 -- A car bomb exploded outside the United Nations compound in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan today, injuring two people.
• Afghanistan entering crucial stage of peace process, Security Council told UN News Centre 11 Nov 2003 -- Although Afghanistan has so far met the benchmarks set by the Bonn Agreement, it is now entering the most critical phase of the peace process, the head of a Security Council mission told the 15-member body today.
• Afghanistan: One Romanian Soldier Killed, Another Wounded In Ambush RFE/RL 11 Nov 2003 -- A Romanian soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack in southern Afghanistan today. The Defense Ministry in Bucharest said the soldiers were returning to their base in Kandahar when unidentified assailants opened fire on their convoy.
• U-N/AFGHANISTAN VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- The United Nations has ordered staff in the Afghan city of Kandahar to take extra security precautions in the wake of a bomb attack on the city's U-N offices.A Security Council team that just returned from Afghanistan is warning of security risks.
• AFGHANISTAN INSURGENTS VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- A leading renegade commander in Afghanistan says the insurgency against the transitional government and its coalition allies is entering a "crucial stage," as the country marks its second year since the fall of the hard-line Taleban regime. The statement comes amid allegations that the Afghan government has lost control over parts of the country.
• AFGHANISTAN/EXPLOSION VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- The U-N Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says a car bomb exploded outside its offices in the southern city of Kandahar. The blast reportedly injured one man, who was driving by the scene on a motorcycle.

Other Conflicts

• State Department Summarizes Assistance to Palestinian Authority Washington File 11 Nov 2003 -- In response to a press query, the State Department provided a breakdown of regular and supplemental assistance to the Palestinian Authority from October 2002 to the present.
• IVORY COAST/ PEACE VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- Seven African heads of state meeting in Ghana have agreed to ask the United Nations for help in neighboring Ivory Coast.
• UN Secretary-General welcomes repatriation of Moroccan POWs UN News Centre 11 Nov 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed Western Saharan Frente POLISARIO's release of 300 Moroccan prisoners of war and their repatriation on November.8, his spokesman said.
• UN Security Council calls on Somali leaders to bridge differences, end conflict UN News Centre 11 Nov 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council called on Somalia's leaders to agree on a lasting solution to their more than a decade old conflict and to establish the framework for a viable government by working through a Leaders Meeting scheduled to take place in Kenya later this month.
• SRI LANKA POLITICS VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- Sri Lanka's prime minister says he will meet with his staunchest political rival, the president, in their first face-to-face discussions since the country was plunged into political turmoil last week. The decision comes as Norwegian peace envoys meet with officials monitoring the ceasefire between government forces and the Tamil rebels.
• UGANDA/HUMANITARIAN CRISIS VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- A top U-N humanitarian official warns the world can no longer ignore the long-running civil war in northern Uganda, which has created a humanitarian catastrophe. The United Nations and donor countries have done too little to help Uganda's population.
• IVORY COAST/ PEACE VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- Seven West African heads of state are meeting in Ghana to find ways to resuscitate the peace process in neighboring Ivory Coast.

Defense Policy / Programs

• "Liberty and Peace Are Coming to the Middle East," Powell Declares Washington File 11 Nov 2003 -- Democracy is coming to the Middle East because "people feel the bracing winds of freedom on their faces," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a November 10 address to the City College of New York (CCNY).
• DoD, Florida Partner to Protect Military Ranges, Environment 12 Nov 2003 -- Principal Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment Philip Grone and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush today signed an agreement that will strengthen national security and protect significant natural resources in Northwest Florida.
• President Says U.S. Will Continue Ant-Terror Mission, 'Period' AFPS 11 Nov 2003 -- "We will finish the mission we have begun, period," President Bush said during a Veterans Day speech at the Heritage Foundation here today.

• First Joint EU-NATO Crisis Management Exercise (CME/CMX 03) NATO 11 Nov 2003 -- The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) will conduct their first ever joint crisis management exercise, CME/CMX 03, from 19 to 25November 2003, based on a range of standing arrangements for consultation and cooperation between the EU and NATO in times of crisis, and the other relevant elements of "Berlin Plus" arrangements.

News Reports

• GEORGIA PROTEST VOA 11 Nov 2003 -- Interior ministry troops are standing guard in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where hundreds of protesters are pressing for President Eduard Shevardnadze's resignation, claiming fruad in last week's parliamentary election.