Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 16 Dec 2003 [PDF]

• Transcript: Defense Department Operational Update Briefing 16 Dec 2003 -- Participating was Gen. Pace, Joint Chief of Staffs Vice Chairman, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
• Transcript: Media Availability from Baghdad, Iraq 16 Dec 2003 -- Participating was Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Commander Joint Task Force and Richard Myers, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
• PENTAGON/IRAQ VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- senior U-S military official has voiced hope the capture of Saddam Hussein will prompt other fugitive loyalists of the ousted Iraqi regime to surrender.
• Documents Found With Saddam Point to Regime Network AFPS 16 Dec 2003 -- Intelligence from the capture of Saddam Hussein already is making Baghdad a safer place.
• Long Search for Saddam Ends in Ironhorse's Backyard AFPS 16 Dec 2003 -- The image of a bearded and bowed Saddam Hussein, who was captured Dec. 13 in this small farming village, is now a worldwide phenomenon.
• Rumsfeld Asks CIA to Oversee Saddam Hussein Interrogations AFPS 16 Dec 2003 -- The Central Intelligence Agency will oversee the interrogations of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters today.
• Terror War Continues, Rumsfeld Says, Despite Saddam's Capture AFPS 16 Dec 2003 -- While the Iraqi people were liberated "in fact" in April, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today that the Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein liberated them "in spirit."
• IRAQ / UNREST VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- A wave of violence has hit the Iraqi towns where support for Saddam Hussein is highest. There have been several attacks on U-S troops and a series of unruly demonstrations in support of the captured Iraqi leader.
• Violence Continues In Iraq RFE/RL 16 Dec 2003 -- The U.S. military says its troops last night killed 11 Iraqi guerrillas who tried to ambush their forces in a town north of the capital Baghdad.
• TASK FORCE "ALL AMERICAN" AIDS POLICE IN FALLUJAH CENTCOM Release 16 Dec 2003-- This afternoon, there was a demonstration in the town of Fallujah. Some demonstrators carried AK-47s and other small arms and fired into the air. Local authorities were notified and dispersed the crowd.
• SAMARRA AMBUSH CENTCOM Release 16 Dec 2003-- Task Force Ironhorse soldiers traveling through the city of Samarra repelled a complex ambush in the afternoon of Dec. 15 and killed eleven attackers without suffering any Coalition casualties. As the patrol from B Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division drove through the city soldiers saw a large flock of pigeons take flight. The pigeons were apparently used as a signal to announce the arrival of the soldiers in Stryker infantry vehicles.
• TASK FORCE "ALL AMERICAN" STANDS FIRM AGAINST ATTACKS CENTCOM Release 16 Dec 2003-- The 82d Airborne Division and attached units, also known as Task Force "All American," continued security operations within the Al Anbar Province.
• CIVIL AFFAIRS WORKS TO IMPROVE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SAFETY CENTCOM Release 16 Dec 2003-- Civil affairs personnel met with local officials in Al Karmah to discuss plans to provide potable water to the nearby village of Kaifa. Since the village does not have access to potable water or the infrastructure to supply it, the team prepared a request through the Coalition Provisional Authority to purchase two water trucks to assist in the effort. This will serve as a short-term solution until water distribution lines are built from Al Karmah to the village.

• Marine, Army engineers' efforts help build 'Joint' camp Marine Corps News 16 Dec 2003-- Marine and Army engineer units of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa flexed their joint muscles to complete a construction and refurbishment project on the new command operations center in Building 111 opened here yesterday.

• Afghans Celebrate Reconstruction of Kabul-Kandahar Road Washington File 16 Dec 2003 -- In December 2002, the road connecting the Afghan capital Kabul with the country's second largest city, Kandahar, was marred with broken sections of bombed out concrete and destroyed bridges, and was laden with land mines. The hazardous 482-kilometer journey took two days to complete, and a taxi ride between the two cities cost 1000 afghanis.
• Boucher Sees Historic Importance in Opening of Afghan Road Washington File 16 Dec 2003 -- State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher described the opening of the Kabul-Kandahar highway as a "keystone event" in the rebuilding of Afghanistan in a December 16 statement regarding the dedication of the reconstructed thoroughfare.
• Bush Hails Completion of Afghan Highway Washington File 16 Dec 2003 -- President Bush highlighted the political, economic and social importance of the reconstructed Kabul-Kandahar highway as he hailed the early completion of the road in a December 16 statement.
• U-S-Afghan Road VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- President Bush and other officials of his administration Tuesday celebrated the ceremonial reopening of the newly-renovated Kabul-to-Kandahar highway in Afghanistan. The nearly 500-kilometer roadway project funded by the United States and Japan is the centerpiece of Afghan reconstruction efforts.
• AFGHANISTAN/ROAD VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- Afghanistan has marked a development milestone, dedicating a new road connecting its two largest cities.

Other Conflicts

• U.S. Expresses Concern At Fighting in Darfur Region of Sudan Washington File 16 Dec 2003 -- State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher December 16 expressed concern at the "deteriorating humanitarian and security situation" in Sudan where fighting has forced the curtailment of humanitarian assistance in the northwestern Darfur region.
• UN meeting in Asia examines situation in occupied Palestinian territories UN News Centre 16 Dec 2003 -- As a United Nations meeting opened in Beijing today on the question of Palestine, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel and the Palestinians to intensify efforts to restart talks and stressed that the international community must bolster its role in the peace process.
• Security Council calls for panel to monitor breaches of Somali arms embargo UN News Centre 16 Dec 2003 -- Aiming to stem the continued flow of weapons through Somalia, the United Nations Security Council today requested the establishment of an expert group to make recommendations on tightening the arms embargo against the country.
• Russia: Chechen Fighters Break Through Security Cordon, Release Hostages RFE/RL 16 Dec 2003 -- Military operations are continuing today to hunt down armed Chechen militants who briefly seized a village in Russia's southern republic of Daghestan.
• U-S-SUDAN FIGHTING VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- The United States is expressing deep concern over the situation in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Fighting there, pitting Sudanese government forces and militia allies against local rebel groups, is said to have displaced nearly 700-thousand people.
• MILOSEVIC / CLARK VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- U-S presidential candidate General Wesley Clark concluded two days of testimony at the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. The former foes faced off in closed court, but Wesley Clark described the former president later as petulant and argumentative as
• INDIA BHUTAN VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- Bhutan's army has launched its first offensive against Indian separatist rebels inside the tiny Himalayan kingdom. The rebels have been accused of using Bhutan as a base to launch attacks in the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam over the past several years.
• IVORY COAST DISPLACED VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- Hundreds of thousands of displaced people in divided Ivory Coast remain too scared to return to their homes despite, the presence of international peacekeepers.
• CYPRUS/ELECTIONS VOA 16 Dec 2003 -- Veteran Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash says the results of parliamentary elections in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus shows that his people are in favor of joining the European Union. But Mr. Denktash adds that the outcome of Sunday's ballot also indicated that Turkish Cypriots are not prepared to make peace at any cost with fellow Greek islanders.

Defense Policy / Programs

• State Department Noon Briefing, December 16, 2003 Washington File 16 Dec 2003 -- Afghanistan, Iraq, Armitage Acting for SecState Powell, Nuclear Arms Proliferation initiative, Pakistan, Philippines, Europe, Israel/Palestinains, Haiti, China/Taiwan

• SFOR Plans Future Force Structure NATO SFOR 16 Dec 2003 -- On 02 December 2003, SFOR confirmed that due to the improved security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina that it will reduce to a force of approximately 7,000 multi-national soldiers by June 2004.

• Wassenaar Group to Tighten Export Controls on MANPADS Washington File 16 Dec 2003 -- The 33 governments that participate in the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies have agreed to tighten controls over man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), according to a statement released December 12.

• Russia: Moscow Hosts Talks On Strengthening Chinese Military Ties RFE/RL 16 Dec 2003 -- Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan arrived in Moscow yesterday for a weeklong Russia visit aimed at strengthening the two countries' military cooperation -- particularly on arms sales.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 16 Dec 2003 -- Prime Minister Blair banks on EU win, Brussels raises doubts / EU envoy endorses democratic alliance ahead of key vote / Bosnian Muslims want Karadzic arrest after Saddam / EU police take over from troops in Macedonia (sic) / Turkish bomb-maker suspect reveals Qaeda links
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 16 Dec 2003 -- Polish defense minister: Saddam's capture may influence decision on possible NATO Iraq role / France, U.S. agree must cooperate on rebuilding Iraq