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Current Operations

• Iraq: Attacks Growing Bolder, Better Organized RFE/RL 16 Feb 2004 -- The most audacious assault yet on local security forces in Iraq took place on 14 February. In a highly organized attack conducted in broad daylight, assailants killed more than 20 people and freed prisoners during a raid on a police station in the Sunni Triangle town of Al-Fallujah, west of Baghdad. Al-Qaeda and Hussein loyalists are both being blamed for the raid, but ultimately it remains unclear who is behind the recent wave of deadly attacks on security forces.
• IRAQ/SOLDIERS KILLED VOA 16 Feb 2004 -- military spokesman in Baghdad says a U-S civilian was killed in Iraq over the weekend and that two US soldiers died in attacks Monday. The U-S-led coalition also says it is open to changing the plan for the transfer of power to Iraqis by the end of June.
• AL ANBAR RECEIVES FUNDING FOR INFASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS CENTCOM Release 16 Feb 2004-- Rural communities located near here received more than $104,000 for two water enhancement projects Saturday. One of the projects will provide a source of fresh water to approximately 30,000 residents and will employ 150 people.
• ICDC, TASK FORCE ALL AMERICAN SECURE AL ANBAR CENTCOM Release 16 Feb 2004-- The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps forces conducted 15 independent patrols Monday while Task Force All American conducted 273 patrols, including 15 joint patrols, and executed one offensive operation.
• IRAQI POLICE CAPTURE #41 CENTCOM Release 16 Feb 2004-- Iraqi police captured one of the most wanted people from Iraqi's former regime Sunday in Baghdad. The National Iraqi Police Service Emergency Response Unit arrested Muhammad Zimam abd al-Razzaq al-Sadun, number 41 on the Iraqi "top 55" most wanted list, at approximately 2 p.m. in a residence in Baghdad's Al-Saydea district. He was hiding in an upstairs room.
• ICDC, TF ALL AMERICAN WORK TOWARD A SAFER AL ANBAR CENTCOM Release 16 Feb 2004-- During operations on Saturday and Sunday, Task Force All American conducted 281 patrols (including 18 joint patrols), cleared three small caches, and executed two offensive operations - cordon and searches in Iskandariyah and Ar Ramadi. Iraqi Civil Defense Corps forces also conducted 15 independent patrols.
• AL ANBAR SCHOOLS, YOUTH CENTER SEE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS CENTCOM Release 16 Feb 2004-- Two schools east of Ar Ramadi received more than $29,000 for repairs Saturday. The ongoing renovations conducted by Iraqi citizens will benefit approximately 800 students and are the first capital improvements made on those particular schools in the last 36 years.

• AFGHANISTAN/TALEBAN VOA 16 Feb 2004 -- U-S military officials in Afghanistan say they have detained several-dozen suspected insurgents, including two mid-level members of the ousted Taleban government, in a raid in the south of the country.

Other Conflicts

• SUDAN / DARFUR AID VOA 16 Feb 2004 -- The United Nations says outside pressure on the warring sides in the conflict in Sudan has opened doors for aid agencies to increase their access to the volatile western Sudan in recent weeks.
• HAITI UNREST VOA 16 Feb 2004 -- Rebels attacked a town in central Haiti on Monday, killing the police chief and taking control of a main north-south road in the country. Haiti's president says he will seek international assistance to help control violence now spreading in the northern and western parts of Haiti.
• SUDAN: Special report II: Chad and the Darfur conflict IRIN 16 Feb 2004 -- A year-old conflict pitting rebels against government forces and militia groups in the Darfur states of western Sudan has created a humanitarian crisis that has spilled over into neighbouring Chad, as well as concerns among some observers about the region's stability.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Dangerous Detainees Important to Intelligence Effort, Rumsfeld Says AFPS 16 Feb 2004 -- The United States is a nation at war, and detaining enemy combatants is a part of that war, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Feb. 13 in Miami.
• US troops arrive in Philippines for military exercises PLA Daily 16 Feb 2004 -- The first batch of 2,500 US soldiers arrived in the Philippines Sunday for joint military exercises with local troops, the military said.
• First Indo-US air war-games maneuvers begins in Bhopal Monday IRNA 16 Feb 2004 -- The Indian Air Force with a whole range of its fighters began war games maneuvers along with US Air Force`s combat aircraft in Gwalior, the Central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh Monday.

• Russia and NATO/E-U Enlargement VOA 16 Feb 2004 -- Today in Focus: Russia and the enlargement of NATO and the E-U. In May both organizations will take new members from Eastern Europe. Among them are three former Soviet republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Is Russia viewing this as a threat or an opportunity? What will happen to the countries between Russia and the West like Belarus, Ukraine or Moldova, and to Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad?

• France to muscle defense capacities with 2nd aircraft carrier PLA Daily 16 Feb 2004 -- France announced Friday that it will build a second aircraft carrier using conventional propulsion to reinforce its nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle by 2015.
• French nuclear-powered carrier to figure in joint exercise with India PLA Daily 16 Feb 2004 -- Intending to raise its militaryengagement with India, France will field its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, and a SNA-type nuclear submarine in the next round of joint naval exercise, the HindustanTimes reported Saturday.

• German minister downplays quick NATO deployment in Iraq PLA Daily 16 Feb 2004 -- German Defense Minister Peter Struck believes that NATO is not able to make a quick decision on sending its peace-keeping soldiers to Iraq.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 16 Feb 2004 -- U.S. awaiting U.N. plan for Iraqi handover / Guerrilla raid in Fallujah bears hallmarks of disbanded Iraqi army, U.S. officer says / EU presses for armed action against Afghan opium / French open Afghan military staff college / One U.S. soldier killed, nine wounded in mine blast in eastern Afghanistan; four de-miners killed
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 16 Feb 2004 -- Gen. Jones' visit to Slovakia noted / Deputy Allied Commander Transformation received in Estonia / Italy to lead PRT, says defense minister / Defense Minister Struck sees no imminent NATO role in Iraq