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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 12 Aug 2004 [PDF]
• MARINES KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH
• DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty

• IRAQI FORCES DEAL MEHDI MILITIA BLOW IN AL KUT CENTCOM 12 Aug 2004 -- Joint Iraqi Police Service, Iraqi National Guard, and U.S. Special Forces operations in Al Kut, Aug. 11, against Mehdi Militiamen may have broken the back of anti-Iraqi forces in the city, according to the city's governor
• IRAQ WRAP VOA 12 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi and U.S. Forces have launched a major assault against militia loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. U.S. forces have stormed his home in the holy city of Najaf. Iraq's government says it will go ahead Sunday with a national conference that will choose an interim assembly. The United Nations approves extending its mission in Iraq for another year.
• Coalition, Iraqi Forces Focus on al-Sadr's Outlaw Militia Washington File 12 Aug 2004 -- Current military operations being conducted by Iraqi and multinational military forces in Najaf and Kufa are "designed to restrict freedom of movement" of the Mehdi militia forces loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, according to a U.S. general.
• IRAQ/NAJAF VOA 12 Aug 2004 -- U.S. and Iraqi troops are waging a major offensive against militants loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in the holy city of Najaf. The fighting centers on a shrine that is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, where the militants are holed up. Iraqi officials say only Iraqi security forces are authorized to enter the shrine.
• Helicopter Crash in Anbar Province Claims Two Marines AFPS 12 Aug 2004 -- Two Marines were killed and three others were injured the night of Aug. 11 when a CH-53 helicopter flying in support of security and stabilization operations in Iraq's Anbar province crashed, a Multinational Force Iraq news release reported today.
• Offensive Begins But Holy Sites Not Targeted, Officials Say AFPS 12 Aug 2004 -- Multinational and Iraqi forces launched an offensive against outlaw militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Iraqi cities of Kufa and Najaf today.
• IRAQI SECURITY FORCES RESPOND TO ATTACKS IN AL KUT CENTCOM 12 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi Police and National Guard units responded on Wednesday to attacks by armed anti-Iraqi forces on Al Kut's city hall, Iraqi Police stations and Iraqi National Guard barracks.
• OPERATIONS IN NAJAF DESIGNED TO ISOLATE MILITIA CENTCOM 12 Aug 2004 -- Current clearing operations by Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces in Kufa and Najaf are focused on areas in both cities, but do not include the Imam Ali Mosque nor the Kufa Mosque.
• MEHDI MILITIA FIRING ON IRAQI CITIZENS FROM INSIDE HOLY MOSQUE CENTCOM 12 Aug 2004 -- Members of the Mehdi Militia fired 25 mortar rounds at the main IP station in Najaf from inside the walls of the Imam Ali Shrine, the courtyard area, beginning around 10:45 a.m.
• Iraqi Officials Say 72 Dead After U.S. Bombs Al-Kut RFE/RL 12 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi officials say at least 72 people were killed and 148 wounded today in U.S. air raids and fighting between the Iraqi police and Shi'ite militia in the southern Iraqi city of Al-Kut.
• Iraqi Militia Head Vows To Repel 'Major' U.S. Offensive RFE/RL 12 Aug 2004 -- Militia forces loyal to Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr vowed today to defend their positions in the city of Al-Najaf, where the U.S. military announced the start of what it called a "major offensive."
• 24th MEU's Army MPs capture weapons, suspected insurgents Marine Corps News 11 Aug 2004 -- After seeing a supply convoy ambushed early Wednesday, soldiers from the 118th Military Police Company (Airborne), under command of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, captured three suspected insurgents and recovered 11 weapons with ammunition.
• 11th MEU battles anti-Iraqi forces in An Najaf Marine Corps News 12 Aug 2004 -- The first four days of the battle of Najaf, between 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) forces and the Muqtada Militia, started here in the early morning darkness well before dawn, Aug. 5.

Deployments

US Policy

United Nations

• Security Council unanimously renews UN mission in Iraq for another year UN News Centre 12 Aug 2004 -- The Security Council today unanimously renewed for a further year the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), whose tasks include coordinating various humanitarian operations and helping the war-torn country to organize elections by the end of January and draft a new constitution.
• Security Conditions Continue to Hamper U.N. in Iraq Washington File 12 Aug 2004 -- The deteriorating security situation in Iraq in the past year has kept the United Nations from returning to the country and undertaking the wide-ranging assistance program set out by the Security Council, Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the council August 11.
• UN/IRAQ MISSION VOA 12 Aug 2004 -- The U.N. Security Council has extended the United Nations mission in Iraq for a second year. But concerns about security still cloud the mission's future.

Reconstruction Issues

• Transcript: Iraqi Interim Government Briefing 12 Aug 2004 -- MOD Hazim Sha' Alan and MOI Falah Al-Naqib
• IRAQI ARMED FORCES TO BEGIN MEDICAL LOGISTICS TRAINING CENTCOM 12 Aug 2004 -- Ten medical officers from the Iraqi army will commence training at the Iraqi Armed Forces Medical Logistics Course at Marka Military Air Base, Jordan, Aug. 23, as the inaugural class to negotiate Iraqi's newly formed medical specialty school.
• Iraqi Prime Minister Asks Militias to Put Down Arms AFPS 12 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi today called on armed fighters in his country to "drop their weapons and return to society."

Foreign Reactions

News Reports

• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 7, Number 30 12 Aug 2004 -- IRAQI PRIME MINISTER FACES BIGGEST POLITICAL TEST TO DATE / HRW WARNS THAT VIOLENCE MIGHT ERUPT IF PROPERTY CLAIMS ARE NOT RESOLVED / IRAQI GOVERNMENT REINSTATES DEATH PENALTY, ANNOUNCES AMNESTY LAW / IRAQI COURT ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR CHALABIS / GOVERNMENT CLOSES AL-JAZEERA FOR ALLEGEDLY INCITING VIOLENCE / PLAN FOR ARAB-MUSLIM FORCE NOT GAINING SUPPORT / INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE INTO IRAQI DEATHS
• Iraq: Laws Of War Tested Amid Battle Near Al-Najaf Holy Sites RFE/RL 12 Aug 2004 -- Under the international laws concerning war and cultural heritage property, U.S. forces would appear to have the right to attack holy sites used by Shi'a fighters in Al-Najaf. A global convention says cultural property that has been converted to military usage by one side in a conflict -- which U.S. officials say has happened at the Imam Ali Mosque -- may become the target of military action by the other side. But U.S. forces remain wary of the consequences of a major attack on the mosque.