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Defense Policy / Programs
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 14 Dec 2004 [PDF]
• TWO MARINES KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

• Transcript: Department of Defense Briefing 14 Dec 2004 -- Lawrence Di Rita, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Also Participating; Brigadier General David Rodriguez, Deputy Director for Regional Operations, Joint Staff Operations Directorate
• DoD Announces OEF/OIF Rotational Units 14 Dec 2004 -- The Department of Defense announced today several large units scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom rotations scheduled to begin in mid-2005.
• 2/24 Engineers clear area of weapons caches USMC News 14 Dec 2004 -- Getting up well before sunrise and working until well after sunset constitutes a typical day for the combat engineers attached to 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, in northern Babil province.
• MSSG-31 Marines supply battalions USMC News 14 Dec 2004 -- Marines assigned to the training and operations section of Marine Expeditionary Unit Service Support Group - 31 processed 480 rapid request forms and coordinated re-supply for forward units in Fallujah throughout the month of November.
• Pockets of Resistance Remain in Fallujah, Myers Says AFPS 14 Dec 2004 -- Pockets of resistance remain in Fallujah, but the vast majority of insurgents have been cleared out, said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a visit here today.
• Aviation Continues to Aid Fallujah Mission AFPS 14 Dec 2004 -- Aviation is continuing to play a part in mopping up insurgents in Fallujah, the commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing said here today.
• 82nd Airborne back in Iraq Army News 14 Dec 2004 -- More than 1,500 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division are back in Iraq to help provide security for the country's upcoming elections.
• 'Thinking Enemy' Challenges Force-Protection Measures AFPS 14 Dec 2004 -- Adaptive tactics used by a "thinking enemy" have posed a continuing challenge to protecting American forces in Iraq, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here Dec. 13.

• Conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan present new challenges in protecting civilians, Security Council told UN News Centre 14 Dec 2004 -- The armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have presented new, more difficult challenges to the task of protecting civilians and the United Nations has had to call on religious and cultural leaders to plead the cause of independent humanitarian activities, the world body's top relief official said today.

• AFGHANISTAN/TALEBAN ARREST VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- Afghanistan security forces have captured an alleged senior leader of anti-government forces in the southern province of Kandahar. The suspect is believed responsible for a string of deadly terror attacks during the past several years.
• AFGHANISTAN PRISON DEATHS REAX VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- A human rights group says the United States needs to need act faster and more transparently in its investigation into the abuse of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
• U.S. Admits To Prisoner Deaths In Afghanistan RFE/RL 14 Dec 2004 -- The United States military has acknowledged that eight prisoners have died in U.S. military custody in Afghanistan.
• International Operation Seizes Afghan Narcotics RFE/RL 14 Dec 2004 -- An international antinarcotics operation has seized more than one metric ton of Afghan drugs in raids across Central Asia since October.

• US jets violate Pak airspace: daily IRNA 14 Dec 2004 -- The US planes violated Pakistan`s airspace at North Waziristan Agency, close to Pak-Afghan border.
• No CIA bases in Pakistan, says Army IRNA 14 Dec 2004 -- Pakistan has denied a newspaper report that US Central Investigation Agency (CIA) had set up covert bases in the country`s remote tribal regions to hunt down Osama bin Laden.

Other Conflicts

• COTE D IVOIRE: Will the UN Security Council impose a second wave of sanctions? IRIN 14 Dec 2004 -- Wednesday is the day the United Nations Security Council threatened to impose a second wave of sanctions on anyone obstructing Cote d'Ivoire's peace process. But will the travel bans and asset freezes be forthcoming?
• NIGERIA-SUDAN: Darfur rebels withdraw from peace talks citing government attacks IRIN 14 Dec 2004 -- Peace talks to end the Darfur conflict were stalled on Tuesday after rebel groups withdrew in protest at ceasefire violations by the government in Khartoum.
• Annan calls for long-term peacekeeping strategies for troubled Côte d'Ivoire UN News Centre 14 Dec 2004 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on the Security Council and West African regional leaders to propose new long-term strategies for Côte d'Ivoire, saying that last month's crisis highlighted the limitations of the United Nations peacekeeping mission there.
• BUSH / MIDEAST VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- The Bush administration has reacted positively to the latest comments from Mahmoud Abbas -- the Palestinian leader campaigning to succeed Yasser Arafat in elections next month.
• More U.N. Troops Arrive in Haiti to Improve Security Washington File 14 Dec 2004 -- The United Nations says its peacekeeping mission in Haiti will deploy more than 8,000 troops and police in the country by the beginning of 2005, which will demonstrate to the Haitian population the mission's "determination to disarm rogue groups and establish security."
• KENYA / SUDAN TALKS VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- U.N. envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk says he remains optimistic that the Sudanese government and southern-based SPLA rebels will keep their promise to sign a comprehensive peace deal by the end of the year.
• CONGO/FIGHTING VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- The Democratic Republic of Congo says recent fighting in eastern Congo was the result of a Rwandan attack and not internal army clashes. David Lewis reports from Kinshasa that even though Rwanda denies it is involved in fighting, U.N. workers say tens of thousands of civilians have fled the region.
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- Ethiopia has warned Eritrea not to go to war over their disputed boundary, a situation Eritrea says is hypothetical.
• DARFUR TALKS VOA 14 Dec 2004 -- African Union mediators are struggling to keep alive Sudan's Darfur peace talks, which are taking place in Nigeria. Sudanese rebels are refusing to negotiate until government attacks in the Darfur region stop.

Defense Policy / Programs

• President Presents Medal of Freedom The White House 14 Dec 2004 -- "The Presidential Medal of Freedom is our nation's highest civil award given to men and women of exceptional merit, integrity and achievement. Today this honor goes to three men who have played pivotal roles in great events, and whose efforts have made our country more secure and advanced the cause of human liberty."
• President Honors Three With Nation's Highest Civilian Award AFPS 14 Dec 2004 -- President Bush today bestowed the nation's highest civilian honor on three men who he said "have played pivotal roles in great events and whose efforts have made our country more secure and advanced the cause of human liberty."
• Bremer, Franks and Tenet Honored by President Bush Washington File 14 Dec 2004 -- President Bush honored three former U.S. officials with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for their contributions to the U.S. military and diplomatic objectives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

• Defense Department Conducts First Administrative Review Board 14 Dec 2004 -- The Department of Defense conducted its first Administrative Review Board (ARB) for enemy combatants detained at the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. All detainees who have been confirmed to be enemy combatants by the Combatant Status Review Tribunals will be processed through the ARBs.

• DoD Selects First Group for National Security Personnel System 14 Dec 2004 -- Navy Secretary Gordon England announced today the activities selected to take part in the initial implementation of the human resources and appeals elements of the Department of Defense National Security Personnel System (NSPS).

• Rumsfeld Presents Two Distinguished Public Service Awards 14 Dec 2004 -- Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld presented Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service awards today to two individuals for their accomplishments in the Global War on Terrorism.
• Marine Pilots Land Ospreys On Kearsarge Navy NewsStand 14 Dec 2004 -- For the first time, the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) conducted landing operations with the MV-22 Osprey.
• Battalion's IRRs Readily Answer Call to Duty AFPS 14 Dec 2004 -- Like thousands of former active duty soldiers, many soldiers now serving with the 844th Engineer Battalion (Combat Heavy) got letters and telegrams ordering them back to service.
• Resultant Fury successful thanks to 'test' Airmen AFPN 14 Dec 2004 -- Airmen from the 53rd Wing here recently showcased airpower over the Pacific Ocean when Air Force and Navy aircraft targeted and destroyed moving maritime targets.
• Stratotankers provide more than refueling capabilities AFPN 14 Dec 2004 -- The KC-135 Stratotankers of the 351st Air Refueling Squadron here have recently added aeromedical evacuation and airlift missions to their "been there, done that" list.
• Stryker performance scores high with Army leaders Army News 14 Dec 2004 -- Speed, protection and mobility are just a few reasons Army leaders are praising the Stryker's survivability in urban combat and artic environments.
• Forward Oscar Group Reports for Unique Duty Navy NewsStand 14 Dec 2004 -- More than 400 Navy Reservists mobilized by the Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force (NAVELSF) here began six weeks of intensive training to fulfill a customs inspection mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom Dec. 12. This is the first time that this requirement is being fulfilled by the Navy.
• Q-4 Seahawks, 1st Radio Bn. get signals straight in Yuma desert USMC News 14 Dec 2004 -- It happens in a matter of minutes. A team of signal intelligence operators intercepts an enemy transmission. Gathering information from the signals, they contact EA-6B Prowlers flying high above. The Prowlers jam their communication, and just like that, the enemy has lost their command and control.

• State Dept. Official Defends U.S. Policy on Landmines Washington File 14 Dec 2004 -- The United States leads the world in helping to solve the global landmine problem, says a U.S. State Department official, rejecting a recent editorial in an American newspaper that suggested otherwise.

• Russia/China: Beijing Announces Joint Military Exercises With Russia RFE/RL 14 Dec 2004 -- The government in Beijing says China and Russia will hold their first-ever joint military exercises in 2005. Moscow has long been the major arms supplier to its massive eastern neighbor. The announcement could signal that the former Cold War rivals are now seeking closer ties in order to act as a counterbalance to U.S. dominance. But one military analyst says the exercises will be more show than substance.

• State Department Noon Briefing, December 14 Washington File 14 Dec 2004 -- Iraq, Tariq Ramadan/visa process, Egypt/Israel/United States, Middle East, Cambodia, Taiwan, Romania, Israel/Palestinians, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Indonesia, Japan, China
• White House Daily Briefing, December 14 Washington File 14 Dec 2004 -- Palestinian Authority/laying down of weapons, Medals of Freedom/Dir. Tenet, Rumsfeld/Sen. McCain's comments on Defense, White House economic conference/agenda, tax reform, military equipment, Nevirapine/AIDS drug, HHS secretary/drug reimportation, reaching out to Democrats, plan to reform international institutions, Italian Prime Minister visit, Iran/nuclear program

News Reports

• Ukraine's Yanukovych Denies Calling For Force RFE/RL 14 Dec 2004 -- Ukraine Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych today denied he supported the use of force against opposition demonstrators who packed the streets of Kyiv after the disputed presidential election.