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Operations
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Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 23 Aug 2004 [PDF]
• TF OLYMPIA SOLDIER KILLED IN ROADSIDE BOMB EXPLOSION
• ONE MARINE KILLED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT
• FOUR MARINES KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• TF Olympia Soldier killed in roadside bomb explosion
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• IRAQ WRAP VOA 23 Aug 2004 -- U.S. troops and Shiite militants fought fierce battles in the Iraqi city of Najaf, where insurgents have been holed up in a mosque for nearly three weeks.
• Fighting Continues In Iraqi Holy City RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- Fighting continued today in the Iraqi city of Al-Najaf between U.S. and Iraqi government forces and supporters of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
• Iraq: Clashes In Al-Najaf Continue RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- U.S. aircraft today attacked Shi'a militant positions in Al-Najaf as fighting continued in the Iraqi holy city. Reports say U.S. forces, backed by tanks and aircraft, appear to be moving closer to the Imam Ali shrine, the base of the Imam Al-Mahdi Army fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
• Fierce Fighting Flares Up In Al-Najaf RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fought intense battles in the Iraqi city of Al-Najaf today.
• Religious Authorities To Guard Al-Najaf Mosque RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- A senior aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said today that religious authorities in the city of Al-Najaf will be responsible for security at a holy site where al-Sadr's fighters are holed up.
• Marines and Iraqi Special Forces team up for a showdown USMC News 23 Aug 2004 -- Marines with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, teamed up with Iraqi Special Forces for the first time ever in Operation Showdown Aug. 18, to search for weapons caches and terrorists in Ar Ramadi.
• BLT 1/2 Marines get in scrap in Musayyib USMC News 23 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi insurgents set off a roadside bomb, then attacked a convoy of Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit Aug. 20, as the convoy made its way through Musayyib to Forward Operating Base Kalsu.
• RAPCON Airmen control sky over Iraq AFPN 23 Aug 2004 -- Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, coalition forces have controlled the air space over Iraq.
• `Iron Fury' pushing insurgents out of Sadr City Army News 23 Aug 2004 -- Iron Horse Brigade Soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division have spent the past week in an operation to root out radical "Mahdi Army" forces terrorizing the eastern Baghdad district known as Sadr City.

Deployments

• Suez Canal passage marks first milestone of 22nd MEU's journey home USMC News 23 Aug 2004 -- Five months after threading its way through the Suez Canal into the Central Command area of operations, the WASP Expeditionary Strike Group and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) has once again passed through the narrow waterway.

US Policy

United Nations

• Top UN envoy meets Iraqi Prime Minister again on Najaf fighting UN News Centre 23 Aug 2004 -- The top United Nations envoy for Iraq today met with the country's interim Prime Minister in Baghdad to discuss the battles still raging in the holy Shiite Muslim city of Najaf.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: Foreign Minister Says Al-Najaf Conflict Undermining Government RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar al-Zebari told RFE/RL in an exclusive interview yesterday that the ongoing conflict in the southern Iraqi city of Al-Najaf is hurting the government's credibility. He also said he thinks some other ministers in the interim administration made a mistake by calling Iran the "Enemy No. 1" of Iraq.
• IRAQ: Those who fled Najaf, Kufa fighting want to go home IRIN 23 Aug 2004 -- US forces and Shiite militants fought fierce battles in Najaf on Monday, with air raids near a revered shrine and exchanges of mortar fire and artillery, as the US military stepped up pressure on the insurgents to quickly hand over the holy site to Shiite religious authorities. The conflict has created an unprecedented number of displaced people, according to aid organisations.

Foreign Reactions

• Iraq: NATO Delegation to Promote Training Effort RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- A NATO delegation is visiting Iraq to promote efforts to help train Iraqi security forces. Many details are still unclear.
• UK Defense Ministry faces writ over British soldier`s death IRNA 23 Aug 2004 -- The mother of a British solider killed in Iraq is planning to sue the UK`s Ministry of Defense (MoD), claiming officials breached their duty to care for her son.

News Reports

• Iraqi & Regional Media Monitoring UNAMI 23 Aug 2004
• Iraq: Al-Sadr Spokesman Says Militia Will Not Vacate Imam Ali Shrine Courtyard RFE/RL 23 Aug 2004 -- Muqtada al-Sadr's spokesman in Baghdad, Sheikh Salah Jasem al-Obaidi, told RFE/RL in an exclusive interview that Al-Sadr remains in the city of Al-Najaf and that his fighters in the Imam Al-Mahdi Army will not vacate the courtyard of the Imam Ali Shrine in Al-Najaf.