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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Reconstruction Issues
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 21 Jan 2004 [PDF]

• Transcript: Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing with Rebuilding Iraq Armed Forces 21 Jan 2004 -- Today we have with us Major General Paul Eaton. He is the commander of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, the organization tasked with building the foundation of the armed forces of Iraq. He has graciously agreed to be here today to provide an update on the progress being made on rebuilding the armed forces in Iraq.
• Jointness, Transformation Benefit From Lessons Learned in Battle AFPS 21 Jan 2004 -- Lessons learned from U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are greatly assisting Defense Department transformation efforts, the chief of U.S. Joint Forces Command said here today.
• Military's Logistics System Found Wanting in Iraq War AFPS 21 Jan 2004 -- The military's logistics system needs to be further modernized to better serve today's war fighters, a senior Defense Department transformation official asserted here today.
• WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT IN COALITION CUSTODY CENTCOM Release 21 Jan 2004-- Weapons and discarded Iraqi military equipment were turned in or discovered by soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade (Stryker), 2nd Infantry Division, attached to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), in northern Iraq yesterday.

Deployments

• Chinook Crews Swap in Bahrain Navy Newsstand 21 Jan 2004-- Crew members on the first coastal patrol vessel to participate in the Chief of Naval Operations' sea swap initiative met face-to-face Jan. 8, to pass ownership of the ship to the new crew in Bahrain.
• 'Four Corners' Expedites Redeployment Process AFPS 21 Jan 2004 -- One of the first tasks for soldiers crossing into Kuwait on their way home is to turn over all equipment that won't be going with them.

US Policy

• General Wesley K. Clark Remarks on Iraq Clark for President 21 Jan 2004 -- "A few months ago, I delivered a speech on the crisis in Iraq. The situation then was grim: thousands of America's soldiers were in harm's way. Thousands more had been killed or wounded. And the leader of Iraq -- the target of America's invasion -- Saddam Hussein, was still on the run. Back then, President Bush assured us that hope was around the corner, that resistance would lessen, and that a new Iraqi government would be quickly established. According to Administration officials, Saddam's downfall would open the floodgates to hard evidence of his ties to al Qaeda and point the way to weapons of mass destruction -- including nuclear and biological weapons. But time has not been kind to these predictions. Today, nearly four months later, and after the capture of Saddam Hussein, our troops are still in harm's way, and al Qaeda is still at large."
• U.S.: Bush Vigorously Defends Iraq, Afghan Wars In State Of The Union Speech RFE/RL 21 Jan 2004 -- This time there was no "axis of evil" accusation or confident assertions about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Instead, U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech last night was a defiant defense of his controversial foreign policy record, just nine months before U.S. presidential elections.
• Bush Defends War In Iraq RFE/RL 21 Jan 2004 -- U.S. President George W. Bush, in his annual State of the Union address, has confronted critics of the Iraq war, saying that toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was the right course and that America does not need "permission" from the international community to defend itself.

United Nations

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraqi Forum on Principles of Democracy Draws 1500 Participants Washington File 21 Jan 2004 -- More than 1,500 Iraqi men and women from south central Iraq gathered at the Hillah University for Humanitarian, Scientific and Religious Studies January 21 to discuss the basic principles of democracy.
• CONFERENCE SEEKS WAYS TO IMPROVE IRAQ'S WATER SUPPLY CENTCOM Release 21 Jan 2004-- Task Force 1st Armored Division soldiers from the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Abilene, Texas with help from the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, hosted a conference Jan. 15, to discuss ways to raise water quality for the people of Iraq.
• PACHACHI/IRAQ ELECTIONS VOA 21 Jan 2004 -- The head of Iraq's U-S installed Governing Council says he expects the United Nations to dispatch a team of experts to his country to assess the nation's readiness for elections. Iraq is set to return to self-rule by July, but the leader of the country's majority Shiites is rejecting a U-S plan that would install an interim government by then. The United Nations may become key to finding a solution.
• New Iraqi Army First Brigade Nearly Complete AFPS 21 Jan 2004 -- The first of nine brigades planned for the new Iraqi army nearly is complete, the officer responsible for helping to rebuild the country's military reported in a Baghdad briefing today.
• IRAQ / DEBT VOA 21 Jan 2004 -- The government of Kuwait has agreed to begin talks about negotiating Iraq's debt, following a meeting with U-S special envoy James Baker. Mr. Baker is on his way to Saudi Arabia next as part of his trip to convince countries to relieve Iraqi debt.

Foreign Reactions

• Iraq: ICC Being Asked To Investigate Britain For War Crimes RFE/RL 21 Jan 2004 -- A group of international lawyers is calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the U.K. for war crimes during the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The lawyers -- from the U.K., Canada, Ireland, and France -- want the court to investigate the use of cluster bombs and attacks on media targets. Their recommendation does not apply to the U.S., which is not a party to the ICC.
• Admit Iraq war was illegitimate, Tutu Tells U.S. IRNA 21 Jan 2004 -- The US-led coalition should admit the war in Iraq was illegal to help persuade the people of Iraq that it was serious about the future of the country, veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Wednesday.
• UK should face war crime charges, say international lawyers IRNA 21 Jan 2004 -- A panel of eight professors of international law has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Britain for alleged war crimes in Iraq.
• Britain`s Straw tells WEF: "challenge for 2004" is Iraq IRNA 21 Jan 2004 -- Britain`s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that rebuilding Iraq is the "challenge for 2004."
• Straw underlines importance of Iraq challenge IRNA 21 Jan 2004 -- Foreign Secretary Jack Straw underlined the important challenges in Iraq by devoting his entire speech to the issues confronting the US and UK occupation in his address to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
• Japan opposition party to vote against dispatch of SDF to Iraq PLA Daily 21 Jan 2004 -- The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) confirmed a plan Tuesday to vote against the ongoing dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops to Iraq, a senior DPJ lawmaker said.
• BRITAIN/BUSH SPEECH VOA 21 Jan 2004 -- President Bush's reference to Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction-related program activities" has sparked controversy in Britain's parliament.
• IRAQ / BUSH REAX VOA 21 Jan 2004 -- Iraq figured prominently in President Bush's annual State of the Union address Tuesday. The president defended the U-S decision to go to war in Iraq, and he said the world is a safer place without Saddam Hussein.

News Reports