December - Iraq Special Weapons News

03 December Iraq Special Weapons News

OIF/OEF Casualty Update 03 Dec 2003 [PDF]
Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing 03 Dec 2003 -- "Ambassador Bremer continues to meet with members of the Governing Council as individuals and the entire group as we continue to work with them on implementation of the November 15th political agreement."
Officials Stand by Number of Attackers Killed in Samarra; Operations Continue AFPS 03 Dec 2003 -- U.S. Central Command officials are standing by the claim that 54 attackers were killed in the Nov. 30 ambush at a bank in Samarra, despite Iraqi civilians who say the number is much lower.
Iraq: U.S. Attempting To Stamp Out Remnants Of Hussein Regime RFE/RL 03 Dec 2003 -- The United States has been taking action to stamp out any remaining loyalty to deposed President Saddam Hussein, ordering the destruction of huge bronze busts of the ousted Iraqi dictator in Baghdad and carrying out new raids in the north of the country.

John Kerry speaking about Iraq at the Council on Foreign Relations, December 3, 2003 Sen. John Kerry for President Campaign 03 Dec 2003 -- "I believe if the UN role is absolutely clear and substantively real, the Secretary General and members of the Security Council will support this course of action. But one thing is beyond doubt: we will continue to have difficulty persuading other countries, particularly those with meaningful military capabilities, to contribute troops and funds for reconstruction unless and until we vest real responsibility in the hands of the United Nations and the international community."

Iraq: absent UN weapons inspectors continue analyzing biological samples UN News Centre 03 Dec 2003 -- United Nations weapons inspectors withdrawn from Iraq on the eve of the war in March have continued analyzing biological samples and evaluating Iraqi Al-Samoud 2 missiles in their search for evidence of banned weapons that Saddam Hussein may have possessed, according to their latest report released today.
UN-created monitoring board for Iraqi development fund to meet on Friday UN News Centre 03 Dec 2003 -- An international board entrusted by the United Nations Security Council with monitoring the United States-led management of funding and revenues in Iraq will hold its first organizational meeting on Friday.

Iraq: Many Iraqis Say Governing Council Should Be Disbanded Next Summer RFE/RL 03 Dec 2003 -- Members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council are hinting the body should continue functioning after a provisional government is put in place next summer. They say the council could become a second legislative body with its own supervisory powers. Many Iraqis disagree and say the council should be dissolved.

BRITAIN / RAQ SECURITY VOA 03 Dec 2003 -- The former national security director for the U-S-led coalition in Iraq says neither Syria nor Iran is actively promoting terrorist activity in Iraq. The former official, Walter Slocombe, has discussed the Iraq security situation at a lecture in London.

Visiting Scholars Offer Firsthand Impressions of Iraq Washington File 03 Dec 2003 -- Three think tank scholars, who have just returned from separate visits to Iraq, presented mixed assessments of U.S. successes and failures in the occupation of that country. They were part of a December 2 panel at the Brookings Institution in Washington entitled "Firsthand Views from Iraq."