• Forum
• Images

• Military Menu                       

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space
• Public Eye

News

Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 17 Oct 2005 [PDF]
• MARINE KILLED BY IED IN SAQLAWIYAH
• FIVE SOLDIERS KILLED IN RAMADI
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

• Al Qaeda Leader's Letter Questions Zarqawi Tactics AFPS 17 Oct 2005 -- A letter from al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, intended for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda terrorist leader in Iraq, chided Zarqawi for some of his tactics.
• Marine Dies in Attack; Forces Capture Weapons, Kill Terrorists AFPS 17 Oct 2005 -- A Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, on Oct. 15.
• An estimated 70 terrorists killed near Ramadi MNF-I 17 Oct 2005 -- Coalition forces continued counter-terrorism operations in areas of Al Anbar Province Oct. 16, killing an estimated 70 terrorists in separate actions.
• Citizen’s tip helps Soldiers find terrorist weapons cache MNF-I 17 Oct 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers, acting on a tip from an Iraqi citizen, seized a large weapons cache in west Baghdad Oct. 16.
• Marines destroy terrorist cave complex MNF-I 17 Oct 2005 -- Marines destroyed a terrorist cave complex used as a weapons cache and bomb-making factory early Oct. 17 near Haqlaniyah.
• Troops help protect Iraqi polls Army News 17 Oct 2005 -- Combined forces throughout Iraq stepped up security efforts during the constitutional referendum vote Oct. 15, resulting in few attacks to disrupt the democratic process.
• Mosul is policing its own Army News 17 Oct 2005 -- The Mosul city government and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or USACE, are working together to renovate eight Mosul police stations.

• Militants Kill Pro-Government Afghan Clerics RFE/RL 17 Oct 2005 -- Suspected Taliban militants have shot dead a pro-government cleric in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan and another in Kunar Province.

• Air Force continues Pakistan aid AFPN 17 Oct 2005 -- The Air Force continues to provide humanitarian aid to Pakistan after it suffered a 7.6 magnitude earthquake Oct. 8.
• U.S. Navy Deploys More Helos, Personnel to Help Earthquake Victims in Pakistan Navy NewsStand 17 Oct 2005 -- The Desert Hawks of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 26 sent two aircraft and more than half their detachment to Pakistan Oct. 15 and 16 to help deliver medical supplies, water and tents to earthquake victims to support the government of Pakistan’s relief efforts.

• Airmen help with Guatemala relief AFPN 17 Oct 2005 -- Nine Airmen from Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, deployed here as part of a Joint Task Force-Bravo team supporting Hurricane Stan relief operations in this Central American country.

Other Conflicts

• Clearing Landmines Imperative for Economic Recovery Washington File 17 Oct 2005 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is drawing attention to the fact that landmines and other abandoned weapons impede the efforts of nations trying to recover from years of conflict.

• US Urges Israel to Consider Ramifications of West Bank Travel Restrictions VOA 17 Oct 2005 -- The United States has urged Israel to consider the ramifications of imposing travel restrictions on the West Bank.
• NEPAL: Small arms proliferation at large IRIN 17 Oct 2005 -- Saleha Fakir was working on her farm when her neighbour came with the devastating news. The Maoist militants had shot dead her husband Salim and his two elder brothers Jama and Namdan.
• UGANDA: Indictment of LRA leaders draws widespread praise IRIN 17 Oct 2005 -- The International Criminal Court's (ICC) unsealing on Friday of arrest warrants for five Ugandan rebel leaders has been commended by the international community, with the European Union (EU) saying the move puts an end to impunity.
• Security Council urges closer cooperation between UN and regional organizations UN News Centre 17 Oct 2005 -- The Security Council today called for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, which have over the past decade played an increasingly important role in supporting countries emerging from conflict.
• Positions of key players in Western Sahara quasi-irreconcilable, says UN envoy UN News Centre 17 Oct 2005 -- The positions of most key players in the Western Sahara dispute are quasi-irreconcilable, though they all hold strong views on the need for a durable solution, the senior United Nations envoy on the issue said today at the end of a visit to the region.
• UN vacates posts in Ethiopian-Eritrean security zone due to Eritrean chopper ban UN News Centre 17 Oct 2005 -- The United Nations today began vacating nearly half the 40 posts it maintains to monitor an accord ending a border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea because of an Eritrean ban on its helicopter flights, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that the mission was being jeopardized and its deployment might have to be reconsidered.
• Russia: Who Carried Out The Nalchik Raids And Why? RFE/RL 17 Oct 2005 -- Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basaev claimed responsibility today for last week's raids on Nalchik, saying he provided "operational guidance."
• Russia: Basaev Says He Helped Plan Nalchik Raid RFE/RL 17 Oct 2005 -- In an e-mail message to the kavkazcenter.com website that was reposted on chechenpress.org on 17 October, radical Chechen field commander Shamil Basaev said that he contributed to the planning of the 13 October operation in which 217 militants participated in multiple attacks on police, army, and Federal Security Service (FSB) facilities in Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic (KBR).
• SOMALIA: UN condemns arms embargo violations IRIN 17 Oct 2005 -- The UN Security Council has condemned the increase in the flow of arms and ammunition into Somalia in violation of a 13-year-old arms embargo against the war-scarred Horn of Africa nation.
• ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN vacates more monitoring posts on tense border IRIN 17 Oct 2005 -- The recent ban on United Nations helicopter flights by the Eritrean government has forced international peacekeepers to abandon a number of monitoring posts on the tense Ethiopian-Eritrean border region, the UN said in a statement on Monday.
• Israel Suspends Security Contacts with Palestinians VOA 17 Oct 2005 -- Israel on Monday temporarily suspended security contacts and all negotiations with Palestinian authorities following two attacks against Israeli settlers in the West Bank that left three Israeli's dead.

Defense Policy / Programs

• First F/A-22 deployment is for training AFPN 17 Oct 2005 -- The Raptors are leaving the nest for their first deployment.
• Antarctica Deep Freeze mission resumes AFPN 17 Oct 2005 -- One of the most difficult Air Force missions -- Operation Deep Freeze -- is about to resume.
• General McNabb takes command of AMC AFPN 17 Oct 2005 -- Gen. Duncan J. McNabb took command of Air Mobility Command during a ceremony here Oct. 14.
• Edwards Talons test one-engine takeoffs AFPN 17 Oct 2005 -- T-38 Talons usually require both engines for takeoff. But in case one engine fails, pilots and engineers here are working to determine the safest single engine takeoff speed for the aircraft.
• Navy Strengthens Relations with India During Port Visit Navy NewsStand 17 Oct 2005 -- During a recent port visit to Goa, India, in support of the MALABAR 2005 exercise with the Indian Navy, crew members from USS Higgins (DDG 76), USS Chafee (DDG 90) and USS Santa Fe (SSN 763) participated in a series of events enhancing cooperation between the two navies, and the strengthening of relations to foster regional security.
• Rumsfeld Heads to China to Address Security Issues AFPS 17 Oct 2005 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is en route to Beijing, China, today to meet with Chinese leaders and discuss mutual security interests and ways to improve the two countries' military-to-military relationship.
• Supreme Court to Hear Case on Military Recruiters' Access to Colleges AFPS 17 Oct 2005 -- A case concerning colleges' right to receive federal funding but bar military recruiters from campuses because of disagreements over homosexual policy is scheduled to be argued before the Supreme Court this session.
• Air Force testing new transparent armor AFPPN 17 Oct 2005 -- Engineers here are testing a new kind of transparent armor -- stronger and lighter than traditional materials -- that could stop armor-piercing weapons from penetrating vehicle windows.

• NATO Delegation To Discuss Ukraine Membership Bid RFE/RL 17 Oct 2005 -- A delegation from NATO is in Ukraine to discuss that country's bid to join the military alliance

• White House Briefing, October 17 Washington File 17 Oct 2005 -- Berlusconi visit, Harriet Miers/nomination, India/Pakistan, terrorism, President Abbas visit, energy, Iran, Syria
• State Department Briefing, October 17 Washington File 17 Oct 2005 -- Canada/announcement of Rice's trip to Ottawa, Iraq, Argentina, Cuba, South Korea/China, Israel/Palestinian Authority, Valerie Plame investigation, Bush travels to APEC Summit

Defense Industry

News Reports

• French Police Arrest Key Witness in Hariri Assassination VOA 17 Oct 2005 -- French police have arrested a key Syrian witness in a United Nations probe of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

• Pakistan Relief Efforts Resume After Bad Weather RFE/RL 17 Oct 2005 -- Helicopters today resumed relief operations to stranded earthquake survivors in the mountains of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
• Aid Starts Reaching Thousands in Quake-hit Pakistan VOA 17 Oct 2005 -- Aid finally has started reaching some of Pakistan's thousands of cold and hungry earthquake survivors as helicopters, trucks, even donkeys are used to bring help to Himalayan villages cut off for nine days.