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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Aug 2005 [PDF]
• FOUR TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS KILLED BY IED IN SAMARRA

• 82nd Airborne Division deploying in support of OIF Army News 18 Aug 2005 -- The 82nd Airborne Division has received deployment orders directing them to deploy a Battalion-sized element in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Car bombs detonate near police, bus stations Army News 18 Aug 2005 -- Terrorists carried out multiple suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attacks Aug. 17 in Baghdad.
• Infantrymen make a difference in Abu Ghraib district Army News 18 Aug 2005 -- Soldiers in Abu Ghraib district clean up a local soccer field for the children in their sector July 29.
• Mobile Security Detachment 25 Reaches Midpoint of Deployment Navy NewsStand 18 Aug 2005 -- The Portsmouth, Va.,-based Mobile Security Detachment (MSD) 25 reached the half-way point of their deployment providing point defense of the Al Basrah (ABOT) and Khawr Al Amaya (KAAOT) oil terminals Aug 12.

• U.S. Envoy Assures Security for Legislative Elections VOA 18 Aug 2005 -- The new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan says insurgent violence is likely to continue, but there are enough local and international security forces in place to safeguard next month's landmark legislative elections.
• Afghan Foreign Minister Vows Violence Won't Hobble Elections RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- Afghan, Australian, and U.S. diplomats today dismissed concerns that increased attacks by neo-Taliban might hamper the country's parliamentary and local elections in September.
• Australia To Send Troops To Afghanistan RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made the announcement today at a joint news conference in Canberra with visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.
• Lebanese Hostage Freed In Afghanistan RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- Purported neo-Taliban captors today released a Lebanese engineer kidnapped last week after the Lebanese-owned company that employs him agreed to cease operations in Afghanistan.
• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Volume 4, Number 24 18 Aug 2005 -- PAKISTANI ISLAMIST OPENS PANDORA'S BOX / ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS ON AIRWAVES / THREATS, INTIMIDATION REPORTED AGAINST FEMALE CANDIDATES / VIOLENCE INVOLVING NEO-TALIBAN CONTINUES IN AFGHANISTAN / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY

Other Conflicts

• US Sees Gaza Pullout as Catalyst for Further Peace Moves VOA 18 Aug 2005 -- The Bush administration said Thursday it expects the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza to be followed by actions by both Israel and the Palestinians to fulfill peace-making commitments.
• Israeli Troops Meet Stiff Resistance and Threats as They Evacuate Hardline Gaza Holdouts VOA 18 Aug 2005 -- Israeli forces met stiff resistance and threats from armed Jewish extremists as they focused on evacuating the most hard-line Gaza settlements
• UGANDA: LRA reluctant to take up new peace initiative IRIN 18 Aug 2005 -- The rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has responded poorly to a recent initiative by mediators attempting to peacefully end the 19-year-old war in northern Uganda between the insurgents and government forces, sources said.
• WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario releases all remaining Moroccan prisoners of war IRIN 18 Aug 2005 -- The Polisario Front, which is fighting for Western Sahara to be recognised as an independent state, on Thursday released all remaining Moroccan prisoners-of-war, some of whom had been held in captivity for more than 20 years.
• COTE D IVOIRE: Peace process deadlocked with time running out before planned elections IRIN 18 Aug 2005 -- Ivorians are supposed to go to the polls on 30 October to restore peace to a country that was once an oasis of prosperity and stability in West Africa but for the last three years has been spilt into a government-run south and a rebel-held north.
• Despite fewer casualties in Darfur, conditions steadily deteriorating – Annan report UN News Centre 18 Aug 2005 -- While deaths from clashes between Sudanese Government forces and armed factions in Darfur have declined, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns in a new report that the ensuing “descent into lawlessness” – looting and rebel attacks against civilians and aid workers – has only intensified insecurity in the war-torn region.
• Annan welcomes release of Moroccan POWs in Western Sahara UN News Centre 18 Aug 2005 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the decision by the Frente POLISARIO (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro) to release all remaining 404 Moroccan prisoners of war, who are being repatriated to Morocco by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
• U.S. Senator in Algeria Secures Release of Moroccan Prisoners Washington File 18 Aug 2005 -- Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has traveled to Algeria at the request of President Bush and facilitated the release of 404 Moroccan prisoners held by the Algerian-backed Polisario movement, according to a statement from the White House August 18.
• Kurdish Group Calls On PKK For Cease-Fire RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- A newly formed Kurdish movement in Turkey today called on Kurdish rebels to declare a cease-fire to help establishing dialogue with the government.
• Militants planning attacks in Chechnya RIA Novosti 18 Aug 2005 -- The militant group that attacked the house of the head of local administration in the village of Roshni-Chu in southeastern Chechnya is planning a series of attacks on the territory of Chechnya, a spokesperson for the Russian military contingent in the Northern Caucasus said Thursday.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Combined Force Exhibits New Type of Warfare AFPS 18 Aug 2005 -- The Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, headquartered here, is fighting the global war on terror with good deeds, not weapons.
• DoD Sponsors Civil-Military Medicine Symposium 18 Aug 2005 -- The Department of Defense sponsored a symposium on civil-military health activities focusing on international humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and stability operations and reconstruction that ended today.
• Rumsfeld in Peru to Discuss Mutual Security Interests AFPS 18 Aug 2005 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is slated to meet here today with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and his new defense minister to show support for Toledo's democratic initiatives and further bolster on what a senior defense official traveling with the secretary called the warmest defense relationship between the two countries in 40 years.
• 64th Replacement Company moves from Frankfurt to Hanau Army News 18 Aug 2005 -- With the closure of Rhein-Main Air Base, Soldiers and their families are making the move to Pioneer Kaserne in Hanau, Germany.
• New Stryker Brigade Signal Company training at Fort Gordon Army News 18 Aug 2005 -- Members of the New Stryker Brigade Signal Company begins training at Fort Gordon this month.
• ESG 1 Sailors, Marines Assist Phillipines in Relief Operation Navy NewsStand 18 Aug 2005 -- More than 150 Sailors and Marines from Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1 teamed with medical personnel from the Armed Forces of the Phillipines (AFP) and civilian relief organizations in a humanitarian assistance operation in the southern island of Tawi Tawi Aug. 9-10.
• ESG-1 Arrives “Down Under” Navy NewsStand 18 Aug 2005 -- Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1 arrived in Australia Aug. 15 for training, liberty and a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of World War II's victory in the Pacific with their Australian allies.
• Patriot’s Underway Training Environment Tests Crew Members Navy NewsStand 18 Aug 2005 -- Crew members of USS Patriot (MCM 7) got underway Aug. 4 for a brief, two-day trial in preparation for an upcoming at-sea training period.
• Ogden Pays Kodiak a Visit Navy NewsStand 18 Aug 2005 -- Sailors and Marines stationed aboard USS Ogden (LPD 5) spent a couple days enjoying the sights and sounds of Kodiak, Alaska, during a scheduled port visit in August while participating in exercise Alaskan Shield/Northern Edge ’05.

• Bosnia-Herzegovina: NATO Aims To Merge Rival Armies Into Single Bosnian Force RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- NATO’s top general in Bosnia was in Brussels this week to brief the alliance on sweeping defense reforms drawn up under his command earlier this year

• Russia/China: Joint Military Exercise A Result Of New Strategic Partnership RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- Russia and China kicked off their first-ever joint military exercises today in the city of Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.
• Historic Sino-Russian Exercises Under Way RFE/RL 18 Aug 2005 -- Russia and China today started their first-ever joint military exercises with an opening ceremony in Vladivostok.

• White House Briefing, August 18 Washington File 18 Aug 2005 -- Libya/Senator Lugar travels, Iraq, Bush/Lance Armstrong's visit, Israel/Palestinians, China/tariffs
• State Department Briefing, August 18 Washington File 18 Aug 2005 -- Morocco/Algeria/Polisario, Venezuela, Israel/Palestinians, UK/Ireland/Comombia, Saudi Arabia, Russia/Iraq, Department/documents on Iraq, Department/investigation, Pakistan, Mexico, North Korea

Defense Industry

• New helicopter holding to be set up in Russia RIA Novosti 18 Aug 2005 -- Major Russian helicopter manufacturing companies will set up a new holding called Oboronprom United Industrial Corporation, the concern's director, Denis Manturov, said.
• Russian military exports not to decline in 2005 RIA Novosti 18 Aug 2005 -- The volume of Russian military export supplies will be no less than last year, the head of Rosoboronexport, Russia's only state middleman in the sector, told a news conference at the Max-2005 air show Thursday.
• Russia issues engine manufacturing license to India RIA Novosti 18 Aug 2005 -- Russia and India signed an intergovernmental agreement during the MAKS-2005 air show issuing a license to manufacture AL-55I jet engines in India with Russian assistance

News Reports

• UZBEKISTAN: Fear grips Andijan three months after killings IRIN 18 Aug 2005 -- Three months after a violent government crack down on protests in the southeastern Uzbek city of Andijan, there is a palpable sense of fear on and off the streets, despite less soldiers seen in public and shops and office open as usual.
• KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Court overturns denial of refugee status to Uzbeks IRIN 18 Aug 2005 -- An appeal to overturn a decision by the Kyrgyz migration department to deny refugee status to Uzbeks who fled violence in southeastern Uzbekistan was granted by a city court in the capital, Bishkek, on Thursday.