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News

Operations
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Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 03 May 2004 [PDF]
• ONE MARINE KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
• TF OLYMPIA SOLDIER DIES FROM INJURIES FOLLOWING RPG ATTACK
• SOLDIERS KILLED, WOUNDED IN CONVOY ATTACK
• TWO SOLDIERS KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK
• FIRST ARMORED DIVISION SOLDIER KILLED DURING ATTACK
• FIVE SAILORS, ONE SOLDIER KILLED IN INDIRECT FIRE ATTACK
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties

• Transcript: Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing 03 May 2004 -- Col. Randal Dragon, commander, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Also participating; Capt. George Rodriguez, Lt. Joseph Merrill and Sgt. 1st Class Mark Forbes
• IRAQ SITREP VOA 03 May 2004 -- While U-S military officials are expected to soon appoint a former Iraqi general to head a new Iraqi security force, gun battles and mortar attacks, both in Baghdad and south of the capital, occurred Monday. And, an American truck driver, kidnapped by Iraqis three weeks ago, has been re-united with his wife.
• Troops Encountered Former Captive By Chance, Commander Says AFPS 03 May 2004 -- The commander of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq who found escaped captive Thomas Hamill May 2 said today in Baghdad that his troops came across the contractor by chance.
• Coalition Details Recent Casualties AFPS 03 May 2004 -- U.S. Central Command and Combined Joint Task Force 7 news releases provided details on U.S. casualties in Iraq today and over the weekend.
• MOSQUES, POLICE, SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM MARINE-RUN RENOVATIONS CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- As part of the Coalition's focus on empowering Iraqis to effectively govern and police themselves, Marines delivered 10 newly painted police cars to the police chief in the town of Hit Saturday.
• FIRST INFANTRY DIVISION SOLDIERS RECOVER KBR HOSTAGE CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- At approximately 11:15 a.m. yesterday near Balad, a patrol from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment from the New York Army National Guard and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team was operating in Balad when they were approached by a wounded man claiming to be an American.
• MARINES DELIVER SUPPLIES, BEGIN WORK PROJECTS CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- Marines delivered supplies to the 1st Battalion of the Fallujah Brigade Saturday, which is currently being integrated into the mission of providing security and stability in Fallujah. These supplies will enhance the service's ability to function and identify them more readily as a respected and lawful authority.
• TF OLYMPIA EOD DISARMS LARGE IED NEAR MOSUL CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- Task Force Olympia contract security forces discovered a "daisy chain" of more than 10 live mortar and artillery rounds near Mosul on Saturday.
• Gearing up isn't easy Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- The standard fighting load for Marines in Iraq is anything but. Sure, there are the "must-have" items - weapon, first aid kit, helmet and flak jacket - but when it comes to the "nice-to-haves" it's every Marine for himself.

• Hizb-e Islami Leaders Meet With Karzai RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- Leaders of Afghanistan's radical Hizb-e Islami faction held talks yesterday in Kabul with Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai. They told him the party wants to contest national elections planned for September.
• AFGHANISTAN/U-S/TALEBAN VOA 03 May 2004 -- The top U-S military commander in Afghanistan says new tactics by his forces are yielding results against Afghan insurgents, but adds that success will depend partly on developments across the border in Pakistan.

Other Conflicts

• Genocide Convention Now Extends to Systematic Rape, Prosper Says Washington File 03 May 2004 -- Pierre-Richard Prosper, U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes, who honed his skills as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), takes great pride in having helped expand the definition of genocide to include organized violence against women, such as rape, a legal precedent that continues to have relevance in ethnic-based conflicts today.

• White House Maintains Support for Sharon Withdrawal Plan Washington File 03 May 2004 -- The Bush administration maintains its support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Israeli settlements from Gaza and portions of the West Bank despite the rejection of the proposal by Israel's Likud Party.
• U-S / SHARON / GAZA VOA 03 May 2004 -- The State Department dismissed suggestions Monday that the defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan in a vote of his Likud party was also a defeat for U-S Middle East diplomacy. Secretary of Colin Powell will discuss the next steps in peace efforts Tuesday in a meeting of the Middle East "Quartet" at the United Nations.
• ISRAEL/POLITICS VOA 03 May 2004 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has begun consultations with his cabinet to find a way forward after his disengagement plan was resoundingly defeated by members of his right-wing Likud party.
• ISRAEL / POLITICS VOA 03 May 2004 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vows not to resign despite the defeat of his proposed plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. In a vote Sunday members of Mr. Sharon's Likud Party voted overwhelmingly against the plan.
• ARAB / REACT VOA 03 May 2004 -- There are diverse reactions from the Arab world following Sunday's Likud Party vote in Israel rejecting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip.

• U-S / GEORGIA / ADJARIA VOA 03 May 2004 -- The United States Monday expressed strong support for the Georgian government's efforts to restore authority in the rebellious Ajaria region on the Black Sea Coast. The State Department said it is concerned that the Ajarian leader, Aslan Abashidze, may be trying to provoke a military confrontation.
• Georgian Leader Gives Ultimatum To Adjaria RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- Tensions between Georgia's central authorities and the breakaway Adjar Autonomous Republic are mounting in the wave of an ultimatum delivered yesterday by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
• GEORGIA / ADJARIA VOA 03 May 2004 -- Georgian officials say every effort is being made to find a peaceful resolution to the latest tensions with the autonomous Adjaria region.

• Reduced UN force in Timor-Leste recommended for another year UN News Centre 03 May 2004 -- United Nations peacekeepers have played a crucial role in the extraordinary political progress made by newly independent, post-conflict Timor-Leste, and a reduced force of nearly 700 troops should remain for another year to allow the country to become self-sufficient, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report to the Security Council.
• U.S. Praises New U.N. Resolution to Help Haiti Washington File 03 May 2004 -- U.S. officials are praising a U.N. Security Council resolution that authorizes a new peacekeeping force in Haiti of more than 8,000 troops and civilians (political and human rights experts) to help stabilize the troubled Caribbean nation.
• IVORY COAST/U-N VOA 03 May 2004 -- U-N report says a violent crackdown on an anti-government protest in Ivory Coast in March was carefully planned by security forces. Government officials are concerned about how information from the report is being released.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Live bombs to drop for more realistic training Army News Service 03 May 2004-- The home to field artillery, Fort Sill, Okla., is re-instituting joint live fire in an exercise this week involving troops from across the country, and a new Joint Fires Course scheduled to debut this fall.
• CEREMONY WELCOMES V CORPS' 3RD CORPS SUPPORT COMMAND BACK FROM MASSIVE MISSION IN IRAQ V Corps Release 03 May 2004-- Soldiers, families, friends as well as German leaders gathered in front of the headquarters of V Corps' 3rd Corps Support Command here April 29 to welcome the COSCOM home from its year deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and honor its service in Southwest Asia.
• Fair Winds and Following Seas to O'Brien After 27 Years Navy Newsstand 03 May 2004-- Spruance-class destroyer USS O'Brien (DD 975) will make a final deployment when her crew takes the ship back to the United States, bringing her 27 years on active duty to a close in May.
• Reuben James Returns to Pearl Harbor Navy Newsstand 03 May 2004-- After spending three months away, USS Reuben James (FFG 57) returned to her homeport at Pearl Harbor April 23.
• USS SALT LAKE CITY (SSN 716) deploys SUBPAC Release 03 May 2004-- USS SALT LAKE CITY (SSN 716) departed San Diego recently for a Western Pacific deployment. The Los Angeles-class attack submarine and her crew of more than 135 will be conducting operations throughout the Western Pacific.
• Unmanned Vehicle Detachment works to recover Navy aircraft SUBPAC Release 03 May 2004-- When the fast-attack submarine USS THRESHER was lost off the coast of Cape Cod in the early 1960s, with all hands aboard, the Navy took steps to ensure such a tragedy would never occur again. From that tragedy, the submarine rescue unit was formed which would later be known as Deep Submergence Unit (DSU). Today this one-of-a-kind unit uses deep submergence vehicles to rescue or retrieve downed submarines and aircraft. After DSU was established, the Unmanned Vehicles Detachment (UMV) became part of the unit in the mid 1970s, which is currently the only detachment in the Navy to specialize in unmanned vehicles.
• Aliso Viejo Marine receives Silver Star Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- Marine Staff Sgt. Adam R. Sikes received the Silver Star from the Secretary of the Navy, Honorable Gordon R. England, during a ceremony Monday at 5th Marine Regiment parade deck here.
• Las Cruces Marine receives Navy Cross Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- Marine Sgt. Marcos A. Martinez received the Navy Cross from the Secretary of the Navy, Honorable Gordon R. England, during a ceremony Monday at 5th Marine Regiment parade deck here.
• Ossian Marine posthumously receives Silver Star Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- Lori Bohr, wife of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeffrey E. Bohr, Jr., who was killed in action April 10, 2003, accepted the Silver Star on behalf of her husband from the Secretary of the Navy, Honorable Gordon R. England, during a ceremony Monday at 5th Marine Regiment parade deck here.
• Huntington Beach Marine receives Silver Star Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- Marine Cpl. Timothy C. Tardif received the Silver Star from the Secretary of the Navy, Honorable Gordon R. England, during a ceremony Monday at 5th Marine Regiment parade deck here.
• America's Squadron sails home Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 returned April 6 after supporting Marine Aircraft Group 12 and Marine Air Control Group 18 in training exercises for more than a month in Yechon, Korea.
• Guard, Reserve Cited For Improved Homeland Defense Capabilities AFPS 03 May 2004 -- Despite great progress and improvements in the nation's defenses against another terrorist attack, "we are not comfortable -- we are not satisfied," the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense told a House subcommittee here April 29.
• Risks Low for Service Members from Depleted Uranium, DoD Says AFPS 03 May 2004 -- Depleted uranium poses very low health risks to U.S. service members, senior Defense Department officials said here April 29.

• State Department Noon Briefing, May 3 Washington File 03 May 2004 -- Israel/Palestinians, North Korea, Cuba, Mexico, Haiti, Panama, Freedom of Press Day, India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Georgia
• White House Daily Briefing, May 3 Washington File 03 May 2004 -- President's schedule, Iraq/prisoner abuse/military standards of conduct, campaign, Israel/Palestinians, Turkey/war on terrorism

News Reports

• NEPAL / PROTESTS VOA 03 May 2004 -- Protests continue to build in Nepal against King Gyanendra's decision to dissolve the government. Over the past few days, there were both peaceful marches and violent clashes as young Nepalis demanded a return to democracy.
• NIGERIA/PROTESTS VOA 03 May 2004 -- Nigerian police have stopped anti-government rallies in major cities when protesters tried to go ahead despite a police ban.