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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 30 Jun 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Transcript: BRIEFING BY U.S. AIR FORCE BRIGADIER GENERAL DONALD ALSTON, DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ MNF-I 30 Jun 2005
• Insurgents Changed Tactics After Fallujah Fight, General Says AFPS 30 Jun 2005 -- Insurgents in Iraq are increasingly employing suicide bombers and roadside explosives and not engaging U.S. and coalition forces in stand-up battles like the one at Fallujah last fall, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today.
• Airmen defend inside the wire AFPN 30 Jun 2005 -- One group of Airmen here enables local and third-country nationals to work here, which helps Kirkuk officials reduce military manpower needed and provide security to thousands of residents.
• Car Bombs Becoming Signature Weapon of Iraq Insurgency VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- In the past three months, Iraq has witnessed some of the worst violence since the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in April, 2003. Car bombings have killed nearly 600 people and wounded 17-hundred more.
• Operation Sword continues in Hit MNF-I 30 Jun 2005 --Marines, Sailors and Soldiers from Regimental Combat Team-2, comprised of elements of 2nd Marine Regiment and 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Marine Division along with Iraq Security Forces continue conducting security operations along the Euphrates River between the cities of Haditha and Hit.
• Task Force Freedom detains more terror suspects MNF-I 30 Jun 2005 -- Task Force Freedom detained four terror suspects in a number of operations in northern Iraq June 29.
• Coalition Forces release Sheikh MNF-I 30 Jun 2005 -- Coalition Forces released Sheikh Daher Khamis al-Dhari on June 29 after detaining him earlier in the day during a raid west of Baghdad .
• Weapons cache found MNF-I 30 Jun 2005 -- Iraqi citizens assisted Coalition forces in finding more than 4,000 pounds of high explosives, near Kirkuk Air Base over the past two days in two separate incidents.

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing 30 Jun 2005 -- Presenter: Lawrence Di Rita, Department Spokesman; James T. Conway, Lt. Gen, USMC, Commander, 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit
• All 16 US Troops Dead in Afghanistan Helicopter Crash VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- The U.S. Defense Department is now reporting that all 16 servicemen on a U.S. helicopter shot down in Afghanistan on Tuesday died in the incident.
• Afghanistan: UN-backed disarmament programme officially ends UN News Centre 30 Jun 2005 -- The disarmament and demobilization phases of Afghanistan’s disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme (DDR), a key United Nations-backed step in setting the country on the road to stability after decades of war and factional fighting, formally ended today with more than 61,000 former combatants disarmed.
• UPDATE: COALITION GROUND FORCES SECURE CRASH SITE CENTCOM 30 Jun 2005 -- Coalition forces have secured the site where a helicopter crashed June 28 and are currently assessing the cause of the crash and the status of the 17 service members who were on board the MH-47 helicopter.
• U.S. Locates Downed Helicopter; 17 Feared Dead RFE/RL 30 Jun 2005 -- U.S. military officials said today they have located the wreckage of a U.S. Chinook helicopter that crashed two days ago in northeastern Afghanistan and expressed fear that all 17 soldiers aboard had perished, although the Pentagon declined to confirm any deaths.

Other Conflicts

• LIBERIA: Taylor still looms large as election countdown begins IRIN 30 Jun 2005 -- It's Sunday afternoon and the ramshackle cinema is packed to the rafters for the matinee showing -- 'The Rise and Fall of Charles Taylor'.
• COTE D IVOIRE: UN threatens sanctions after finding 62 military vehicles at port IRIN 30 Jun 2005 -- UN officials monitoring an arms embargo against Cote d’Ivoire said on Thursday that they had found 62 military vehicles at Abidjan port, the first potential violation of the restrictions that were slapped on the divided West African nation seven months ago.
• UGANDA: Northern rebels undermining IDP coping mechanisms - UN IRIN 30 Jun 2005 -- Rebel activity in northern Uganda continues to undermine the coping mechanisms of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region, leaving them entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, the UN said on Thursday.
• US Officials Says Israel, Palestinians Coordinating Gaza Pullout VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- Top U.S. officials have given a generally upbeat assessment of the coordination between Israel and the Palestinians on the upcoming withdrawal of Jewish settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. The remarks came during a hearing before a congressional committee
• Ivory Coast Politicians Welcome Disarmament Agreement VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- The two sides in Ivory Coast's conflict have cautiously welcomed the revival of the deadlocked peace process that was negotiated in South Africa Wedneday
• UN peacekeeping mission’s mandate in Sierra Leone extended for final six months UN News Centre 30 Jun 2005 -- The United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone for a final six months, until the end of the year, and charged the national security forces with keeping order thereafter in the West African country which is recovering from a long civil war.
• UN mission routs members of armed gang in Haiti UN News Centre 30 Jun 2005 -- The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, tipped off about the presence of armed men in a poor district of the country's capital, mounted a security operation that resulted in the deaths of six gang members, the wounding of four and the arrest of 13, as well as the freeing of a kidnap victim.
• Surveys Show Broad Support for U.N. Intervention in Darfur Washington File 30 Jun 2005 -- The results of two polls – one taken in the United States and the other in eight African countries -- show substantial public dissatisfaction with their governments' responses to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
• Officials See Better Economy, Security as Keys to Gaza Withdrawal Washington File 30 Jun 2005 -- Improved economic circumstances for the Palestinians and improved security for Israelis are the keys to the success of Israel’s upcoming disengagement from Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank, according to the Quartet’s Special Envoy for Disengagement James Wolfensohn.
• Israeli Army Storms Jewish Outpost In Gaza VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- Israeli soldiers have stormed a beachfront hotel in Gaza to dislodge Jewish extremists.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Department of Defense Releases the Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support 30 Jun 2005 -- The Department of Defense announced today the release of the Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support, a first-ever document that addresses DoD’s roles in the homeland defense mission and support to civil authorities.

• Veterans' Advocates Lauded For VA Health Care Forecast US Newswire 30 Jun 2005 -- The Senate's overwhelming approval of an emergency supplemental appropriation for the Department of Veterans Affairs medical system is good news for America's veterans.
• Report: Pilot’s failure to follow procedures caused F-16 crash AFPN 30 Jun 2005 -- A pilot's failure to follow standard F-16 Fighting Falcon operations procedures caused a D-model F-16 to crash short of the runway at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., on March 18, Air Force officials said June 30.
• Airmen get ACCES to better communication AFPN 30 Jun 2005 -- To help spread the work, the attenuating customized communications earpiece system was developed by Air Force Research Laboratory scientists and local F/A-22 Raptor specialists.
• Swedish Submarine HMS Gotland Arrives in San Diego Navy NewsStand 30 Jun 2005 -- The Swedish attack submarine HMS Gotland arrived at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., June 27 to begin a one-year bilateral training effort with the U.S. Navy’s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) forces.
• USS Vincennes Decommissions Navy NewsStand 30 Jun 2005 -- USS Vincennes (CG 49) Sailors, past and present, paid tribute to Vincennes and its 20 years of service to the U.S. Navy during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego June 29.
• Sorbet Royal '05 Draws to a Close Navy NewsStand 30 Jun 2005 -- The NATO submarine rescue exercise Sorbet Royal 2005 (SORO 05) wrapped up here June 30. For almost two weeks, more than 25 NATO and non-NATO countries provided people, ships, aircraft, rescue assets and submarines for the common goal of practicing for potential undersea disaster response.
• DoD Seeks Congressional Support in Influencing Influencers AFPS 30 Jun 2005 -- President Bush made the plea to the American public during his address to the nation June 28, and now Defense Department leaders are asking Congress to go out and do the same.
• Moseley confirmation hearing held AFPN 30 Jun 2005 -- The Air Force chief of staff nominee testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee here June 29.
• 50th anniversary of B-52 delivery AFPN 30 Jun 2005 -- Even though it recently turned 50, it is still capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory. And its lifespan has been calculated to extend beyond the year 2040.
• Military Balance on Korean Peninsula Continues, General Says Washington File 30 Jun 2005 -- North Korea might have one or two nuclear weapons, but that has not upset the military balance on the Korean Peninsula, according to General Leon LaPorte, the commander of U.S. and U.N. forces in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and U.S.-ROK combined forces.

• State Department Briefing, June 30 Washington File 30 Jun 2005 -- USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios to Brief on the President's Malaria Treatment and Prevention Initiative for Africa, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Israel/Palestinians, Kyrgyzstan

Defense Industry

News Reports

• Parents, Spouses and Relatives of Troops Who Have Fallen In Iraq Address the Reality of War at Exhibition; More Than 1700 Pairs of Combat Boots Representing U.S. Soldiers Who Died in Iraq, 'Wall' Listing Thousands of Iraqi Civilian Deaths on Display US Newswire 30 Jun 2005 -- Families from across the country who have lost loved ones in Iraq address the realities of the Iraq war during the Philadelphia opening of Eyes Wide Open

• U.S. Moves To Freeze Assets of Two Syrian Intelligence Officers Washington File 30 Jun 2005 -- The U.S. government has taken actions to financially isolate two Syrians accused of directing Syria's military and security operations in Lebanon, according to a Treasury Department press release June 30.
• US Puts Financial Sanctions on Key Syrian Officials VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- The United States Thursday moved to freeze financial assets of Syria's interior minister and its military intelligence chief for Lebanon. Administration officials said the action is aimed at prodding Damascus to end its intelligence role in Lebanon, and tighten its border with Iraq.

• SOMALIA: Ship commandeered with tsunami food aid IRIN 30 Jun 2005 -- Armed men on Tuesday commandeered a commercial vessel chartered to transport food aid to thousands of people affected by the 26 December tsunami in northeastern Somalia, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said.
• WFP Says Tsunami Relief Ship Hijacked Off Somalia VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- The World Food Program says Somali gunmen hijacked a ship delivering food relief for tsunami victims early this week off the coast of Somalia.

• Demonstrations Call For Congo Government to Resign VOA 30 Jun 2005 -- Thousands of people took to the streets of Kinshasa Thursday calling for the resignation of the transitional government. But the demonstrations turned violent when security forces clamped down on the protests, firing live rounds and tear gas, killing several people, injuring dozens, and arresting hundreds more.
• DRC: Seven killed in demonstrations, hundreds arrested IRIN 30 Jun 2005 -- At least seven protestors were killed and hundreds more arrested in demonstrations on Thursday in various suburbs Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and in other urban areas.