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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 03 May 2004 [PDF]
• ONE MARINE KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
• TF OLYMPIA SOLDIER DIES FROM INJURIES FOLLOWING RPG ATTACK
• SOLDIERS KILLED, WOUNDED IN CONVOY ATTACK
• TWO SOLDIERS KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK
• FIRST ARMORED DIVISION SOLDIER KILLED DURING ATTACK
• FIVE SAILORS, ONE SOLDIER KILLED IN INDIRECT FIRE ATTACK
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties

• Transcript: Coalition Provisional Authority Briefing 03 May 2004 -- Col. Randal Dragon, commander, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Also participating; Capt. George Rodriguez, Lt. Joseph Merrill and Sgt. 1st Class Mark Forbes
• IRAQ SITREP VOA 03 May 2004 -- While U-S military officials are expected to soon appoint a former Iraqi general to head a new Iraqi security force, gun battles and mortar attacks, both in Baghdad and south of the capital, occurred Monday. And, an American truck driver, kidnapped by Iraqis three weeks ago, has been re-united with his wife.
• Troops Encountered Former Captive By Chance, Commander Says AFPS 03 May 2004 -- The commander of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq who found escaped captive Thomas Hamill May 2 said today in Baghdad that his troops came across the contractor by chance.
• Coalition Details Recent Casualties AFPS 03 May 2004 -- U.S. Central Command and Combined Joint Task Force 7 news releases provided details on U.S. casualties in Iraq today and over the weekend.
• MOSQUES, POLICE, SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM MARINE-RUN RENOVATIONS CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- As part of the Coalition's focus on empowering Iraqis to effectively govern and police themselves, Marines delivered 10 newly painted police cars to the police chief in the town of Hit Saturday.
• FIRST INFANTRY DIVISION SOLDIERS RECOVER KBR HOSTAGE CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- At approximately 11:15 a.m. yesterday near Balad, a patrol from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment from the New York Army National Guard and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team was operating in Balad when they were approached by a wounded man claiming to be an American.
• MARINES DELIVER SUPPLIES, BEGIN WORK PROJECTS CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- Marines delivered supplies to the 1st Battalion of the Fallujah Brigade Saturday, which is currently being integrated into the mission of providing security and stability in Fallujah. These supplies will enhance the service's ability to function and identify them more readily as a respected and lawful authority.
• TF OLYMPIA EOD DISARMS LARGE IED NEAR MOSUL CENTCOM Release 03 May 2004-- Task Force Olympia contract security forces discovered a "daisy chain" of more than 10 live mortar and artillery rounds near Mosul on Saturday.
• Gearing up isn't easy Marine Corps News 03 May 2004-- The standard fighting load for Marines in Iraq is anything but. Sure, there are the "must-have" items - weapon, first aid kit, helmet and flak jacket - but when it comes to the "nice-to-haves" it's every Marine for himself.

Deployments

US Policy

• Prison Investigations Moved Swiftly, Officials Say AFPS 03 May 2004 -- Once military authorities received information about possible prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, investigations moved swiftly, Defense Department officials said today.
• IRAQ SITREP VOA 03 May 2004 -- A top American commander in Iraq says multiple investigations, including a criminal probe, are under way into the reported abuse of Iraqis at the hands of U-S soldiers at a prison outside Baghdad. In Washington, Correspondent Nick Simeone reports the U-S led occupation authority in Iraq is concerned about the backlash the incident may provoke in the Arab world and beyond.
• BUSH / IRAQ ( VOA 03 May 2004 -- President Bush is urging the Pentagon to take action against any U-S soldier who has abused Iraqi prisoners.
• Individuals, not System, at Fault in Abuse Case AFPS 03 May 2004 -- Soldiers who allegedly abused and tortured Iraqi prisoners acted as individuals, said the spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force 7 during an interview on NBC's "Today" program.
• Former Iraqi General Not To Head Al-Fallujah Security RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- The top United States military commander has denied that a former general from Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard has been put in charge of Iraqi forces that are planned to provide security in the city of Al-Fallujah.

United Nations

• U.N. Optimistic Iraqi Elections Will be Held in January Washington File 03 May 2004 -- The election process in Iraq is ahead of schedule and Iraqis throughout the country are eager for elections to be held, the head of the U.N. electoral assistance team said May 3.
• Annan expects Security Council to authorize multinational force to remain in Iraq UN News Centre 03 May 2004 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that he expects the Security Council to authorize a multinational force to remain in Iraq as part of a resolution that will cover the period after the return of sovereignty on 30 June, saying it was in everyone's interest to do "whatever we can" to stabilize the country.
• U-N/IRAQ ELECTIONS VOA 03 May 2004 -- The head of U-N team charged with organizing Iraq's national elections says preparations for the January vote are ahead of schedule. An Iraqi election commission and an international supervisor are likely to be in place to oversee the process by the end of this month.
• Iraqi people must control electoral process - UN official UN News Centre 03 May 2004 -- A United Nations elections expert just back from Iraq emphasized today that the country's people must have control of the polling process, and that a secure environment and adequate resources were essential to the balloting's success.
• UN Expert Seeks Probe Into Iraq Abuse Claims RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- A United Nations rights expert today called on authorities in Iraq to establish an independent investigation into the way coalition forces are treating civilians in Al-Fallujah.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: Jordanian Defense Lawyer Aims To Take On Saddam Case RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- It is not clear when Saddam Hussein will be tried. But two defense lawyers have already announced they are prepared to take up his case. This despite having had no contact with the deposed leader, who is being kept by U.S. forces in an unidentified location in Iraq.
• Iraq: Sovereignty Issue Looming Large Ahead Of 30 June Transfer RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- A war of "word" is shaping up in Iraq in the coming weeks. That word is "sovereignty." The United States now says it will hand over only limited sovereignty to a new Iraqi government on 30 June. That conflicts with the hopes of many Iraqis and some members of the international community, who are pushing for a "full" transfer of sovereignty. But the real difference may be one of semantics. International law scholars say sovereignty is not something governments either have or do not have. In fact, no state in the modern world is actually fully sovereign.

Foreign Reactions

• Iraq: U.S. Abuse, Humiliation Of Prisoners Inflames Arab World RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- Images of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners have drawn sharp condemnation, both in the United States and abroad. The outrage coming from the Arab and Muslim world has been especially strong, and raises the question of whether Washington has done irreparable damage to its image in the region.
• Iraqi Shi'a Protest Al-Fallujah Brigade Commander RFE/RL 03 May 2004 -- Three Shi'ite members of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council are criticizing a U.S. decision to place a former Iraqi general at the head of a new security force in the conflict-ravaged town of Al-Fallujah.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ PRISONERS VOA 03 May 2004 -- Controversy has erupted in Britain over the authenticity of published photographs claiming to show British troops abusing an Iraqi prisoner.

News Reports