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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 17 Nov 2006 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• Soldier killed in northern Iraq
• DoD Announces Units for Next Operation Iraqi Freedom Rotation 17 Nov 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today the first of the major units scheduled to deploy as part of the next Operation Iraqi Freedom rotation.
• Transcript: DoD News Briefing with Marine Col. Larry Nicholson Live from Camp Fallujah, Iraq 17 Nov 2006 -- Presenter: Marine Col. Larry Nicholson commander of Regimental Combat Team 5
• CENTAF releases airpower summary for Nov. 17 AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Nov. 17.
• Iraqi Forces Capture Terrorist Cell Leader, Seize Weapons AFPS 17 Nov 2006 -- Iraqi security forces captured a terrorist cell leader, found a large roadside bomb before it could be used, and seized a large weapons cache over the last two days, military officials in Baghdad reported today.
• DoD Announces Troop Rotations for Iraq, Afghanistan AFPS 17 Nov 2006 -- Defense Department officials today announced the first of the major units scheduled to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan for the next rotations in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
• DoD Announces Unit for Next Afghanistan Rotation 17 Nov 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today that the 218th Brigade Combat Team, South Carolina Army National Guard, will deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to train the Afghan National Security Forces
• Afghanistan Food Shortage Threatens Regional Security VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- United Nations officials in Afghanistan say millions of people there are facing a disastrous food shortage this winter

Defense Policy / Programs

• Detainee Release Announced 17 Nov 2006 -- The Department of Defense announced today that it released three detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Albania. One of the detainees is an Algerian national, one is an Egyptian national, and one is an ethnic Uzbek who was born in the former Soviet Union.
• US Plans Massive Court Complex at Guantanamo VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- The U.S. Defense Department is looking for contractors to build a new facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where it can hold large-scale military trials for terrorism suspects held there.
• Panel Urges Congressional Action on U.S.-China Security Issues Washington File 17 Nov 2006 -- China, as one of the world’s major powers, is not meeting its growing responsibilities to promote free trade and international security, according to the latest report by a congressionally mandated bipartisan commission.
• Heritage to Horizons celebration highlights CV-22 Osprey AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- The first operational CV-22 Osprey stole the show during an air power demonstration at Hurlburt Field, Fla., Nov. 16, commemorating the Air Force's 60th anniversary.
• Nominee to Replace U.S. Defense Secretary Meets With Senators VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- President Bush's nominee to replace outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met with senators Friday ahead of his confirmation hearings next month.
• Air Force, industry must partner to create synth-fuel demand AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- The Air Force must partner with the civilian aviation industry to create a stronger demand for alternative fuel sources.
• New aggressor units expand training capabilities AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- Unit changes at Nellis and Eielson Air Force bases have resulted in two wings that, together, create better opportunities for Air Force pilots to train for combat against potential adversaries.
• Unmanned vehicle provides reusable test capabilities in space AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- The Air Force is working on a space vehicle that will allow government scientists to transport advanced technology into orbit, test its capability there, then bring it home to see how it fared in the harsh environment of space.
• Guard, Reserve Troop Rotations Haven’t Changed, Official Says AFPS 17 Nov 2006 -- The National Guard and reserves are still operating under the same rules for mobilization length, and no troops have been mobilized for longer than the allowed 24 cumulative months, the top Defense Department official for reserve affairs said here today.
• Humanitarian Missions Have Lasting Impact, Officials Say AFPS 17 Nov 2006 -- Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions give the U.S. military an opportunity to make a lasting impact around the world and promote a positive image of the military, two top Defense Department officials said here yesterday.
• Exercise Island Response Concludes in Seychelles Navy NewsStand 17 Nov 2006 -- Exercise Island Response 2006 concluded Nov. 16, with the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) diving unit and U.S. Navy divers and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians participating in a closing ceremony.
• Navy, JMSDF Medical Teams Train Together During Mass Casualty Drill Navy NewsStand 17 Nov 2006 -- U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH) Yokosuka, Japan, along with personnel from Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), Commander, Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ) Fire Department, and Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC), conducted a mass casualty drill at Hakozai Fuel Terminal on Azuma Island, Nov. 15.
• On-orbit checkout of SBIRS payload confirmed AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- The Air Force successfully completed initial early on-orbit checkout of the first Space Based Infrared System payload.
• Dynamic Remains Active, Unloads LCU Navy NewsStand 17 Nov 2006 -- After almost 63 years of existence, the small, auxiliary floating dry dock Dynamic (AFDL 6) successfully undocked Utility Landing Craft (LCU) 1643 on Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Little Creek as Dynamic returned to sea Oct. 31.
• Air Force launches Delta II/GPS Mission AFPN 17 Nov 2006 -- The Air Force successfully launched a Delta II booster from Cape Canveral, Fla., Nov. 17.
• New Satellite Improves Global Navigation System Accuracy VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- A rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Friday carrying a replacement satellite to help improve the accuracy of the space-based U.S. navigation network, the Global Positioning System
• Keating: Katrina Lessons to Ensure Better U.S. Disaster Response AFPS 17 Nov 2006 -- Lessons learned during Hurricane Katrina have been applied to ensure a faster, more efficient and coordinated U.S. emergency response, the commander of U.S. Northern Command said today.
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Tony Snow The White House 17 Nov 2006
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Tony Snow and David McCormick, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs The White House 17 Nov 2006

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for November 17, 2006
• ATK Propulsion Technologies Support Successful Launch of Boeing Delta II Rocket ATK 19 Nov 2006 -- Alliant Techsystems (NYSE: ATK) solid propulsion technology supported yesterday's successful launch of a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla
• Boeing Delta II Delivers GPS Satellite to Orbit Boeing 17 Nov 2006 -- A Boeing [NYSE: BA] Delta II launch vehicle today successfully delivered to orbit a replenishment Block IIR Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite for the U.S. Air Force.
• U.S. AIR FORCE/LOCKHEED MARTIN TEAM COMPLETES ON-ORBIT CHECKOUT OF FIRST SBIRS HEO PAYLOAD Lockheed Martin 17 Nov 2006 -- All systems are operating as expected on the first Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) payload following a successful on-orbit checkout by a joint U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] team
• LOCKHEED MARTIN-BUILT GPS SATELLITE LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY BY THE U.S. AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin 17 Nov 2006 -- A U.S. Air Force modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] was launched successfully today from this seaside launch complex aboard a Delta II launch vehicle.
• Northrop Grumman Expands Radar Role in Missile Testing Northrop Grumman 17 Nov 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is growing its role as a provider of range radar support to the U.S. military.
• Northrop Grumman Wins Contract to Supply Integrated Bridge Systems for New Chilean Navy Patrol Vessels Northrop Grumman 17 Nov 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been selected to supply state-of-the-art integrated bridge systems (IBSs) for the Chilean Navy's Danubio IV, a new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) program.
• Northrop Grumman Team Selected to Evaluate Supercavitation-Based Underwater Naval Transport Northrop Grumman 17 Nov 2006 -- A team led by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has won a $5.4 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to determine the feasibility of using supercavitation technology for stable, controllable, high-speed underwater transport.
• Boeing Receives CMMI Level 3 for Special Operations Program Efforts Boeing 17 Nov 2006 -- The Boeing Company's [NYSE: BA] Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., facility has attained Maturity Level 3 for its systems, software and support equipment engineering processes, as defined by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) standards.
• Bell-Boeing Team Begins CV-22 Support at Hurlburt Field Boeing 17 Nov 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and industry partner Bell Helicopter this week began support services on the CV-22 Osprey aircraft for the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., after a Nov. 16 ceremony commemorating the first delivery.

Other Conflicts

• Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey Decries Genocide in Darfur Washington File 17 Nov 2006 -- The ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan -- a “gross violation” of human rights -- is among the top international issues of concern to the United States, says U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey, who directs the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
• Analysis: In Uganda, Peace Versus Justice cfr.org 17 Nov 2006 -- The International Criminal Court (ICC) appears set to break ground on its first case. It recently began pretrial hearings to prosecute a Congolese citizen, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, accused of conscripting child soldiers to fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s civil war.
• Security Council urges DR Congo presidential candidates to use law for any challenges UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- The Security Council today added its voice to the chorus of United Nations calls for the two candidates and their supporters in the run-off presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to avoid acts of violence after the release of provisional results and to use the law only to settle any challenges.
• UN aid chief cuts Darfur visit short after being denied travel permission due to insecurity UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- The top United Nations aid official today cut short his visit to Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region and returned to Khartoum after the Government denied him permission to travel outside the state capitals, warning it was too dangerous, a UN spokesman said.
• Middle East is single greatest challenge facing world – UN Deputy Secretary-General UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- The conflict in the Middle East is the single biggest challenge facing the world and must be solved with a comprehensive settlement that covers all its various elements, from the war in Iraq to the political situation in Lebanon to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, United Nations Deputy Secretary Mark Malloch-Brown said today.
• General Assembly considers draft resolution on Israeli attacks at Beit Hanoun UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- The United Nations General Assembly today met in emergency session to consider a draft resolution that would call for a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Middle East to examine recent Israeli attacks at Beit Hanoun, where 19 people died following a raid last week.
• Lebanon: UN mission protests Israeli air violations UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today protested the 14 Israeli air violations it observed, including two by F-15 jets flying at low altitude, and called for their immediate halt.
• CHAD: Embattled Chad offers assistance of stretched army IRIN 17 Nov 2006 -- With humanitarian groups sounding the alarm about the violence in eastern Chad near Sudan, the Chadian government has proposed sending troops south to neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) to battle rebels there who it said are being backed by Sudan.
• UN rights chief warns of crisis in Chad as Darfur atrocities spill over UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- Deadly violence, maiming and burning of people alive is increasingly spilling over from strife-torn Darfur to neighbouring Chad and displacing thousands, United Nations agencies said today, as the world body’s human rights chief warned of a full-blown crisis and called on Chadian leaders to protect their civilians.
• Senior UN envoy to visit Somalia next week to push for early resumption of peace talks UN News Centre 17 Nov 2006 -- Following close on the heels of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest appeal to the warring parties in Somalia to resume peace talks, a United Nations-led mission will travel to the town of Baidoa, headquarters of the transitional Government, on Monday to confer with President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
• UN Refugee Chief Expresses Fears Over Darfur and Its Neighbors VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- The U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Antonio Guterres, says he is very concerned that the violence in Darfur is spreading to countries bordering Sudan.
• Sudanese Rebel Commander Confirms Spiraling Violence in Northern Darfur VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region say violence is spiraling out of control in northern Darfur, sending civilians fleeing for cover
• UN Says Sudan Agrees in Principle to UN-AU Force VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says Sudan has agreed in principle to allow a joint United Nations and African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.
• SUDAN: Government 'accepts' UN troops in Darfur IRIN 17 Nov 2006 -- The Sudanese government has ‘agreed in principle’ to the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in the western region of Darfur alongside African Union forces, officials said after a high-level meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
• SUDAN-UGANDA: Jungle boost for peace process IRIN 17 Nov 2006 -- Three years ago, Jan Egeland, the United Nations Emergency Coordinator, visited the fetid, muddy camps hosting thousands of civilians displaced by conflict in northern Uganda, and described the situation as "the most forgotten humanitarian crisis in the world", adding, "[I have been] shocked to [my] very bones".
• DRC: Ugandan ‘infiltrators’ left Ituri, official says IRIN 17 Nov 2006 -- A group of Ugandans, described as ‘infiltrators’, has left the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern district of Ituri, a local official said on Friday.
• Sri Lanka president invites Tamil Tigers for talks IRNA 17 Nov 2006 -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse appealed to the Tamil Tigers to resume stalled peace talks and end the current spiral of violence that claimed over 3,300 lives since he came to power in November last year.
• Tbilisi calls off inspection in Georgia-S. Ossetia conflict zone RIA Novosti 17 Nov 2006 -- Georgia has declined to conduct a joint monitoring operation in an area where a Georgian air defense radar was discovered earlier, an assistant commander of the mixed peacekeeping force in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone said Friday.

News Reports

• Backgrounder: UN Sanctions: A Mixed Record cfr.org 17 Nov 2006
• Momentum Builds For Ban On Cluster Bombs VOA 17 Nov 2006 -- A coalition of humanitarian groups is calling on governments to negotiate a treaty to prohibit the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster bombs