Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Government Statements and Transcripts
US Domestic Responses
International Responses
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

December 4, 2001 Airstrikes

Operations

• AFGHAN/PENTAGON VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the Taleban will lose its last stronghold in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar
• AFGHAN/CIVILIAN CASUALTIES VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- The Pentagon admits innocent bystanders are sometimes caught up in the crossfire in the war in Afghanistan

Defense Policy / Programs

Government Statements and Transcripts

• Transcript: Defense Department Briefing, December 4 04 Dec. 2001-- Rumsfeld: The campaign in Afghanistan continues. The situation in the northern and western portions of the country have improved, though there are still a number of pockets of resistance, as you know. The situation remains unsettled in the southern and portions of the eastern parts of the country. But the pressure on al Qaeda and Taliban is continuing to grow.
• Text: Keith on the Mazar-I-Sharif Prison Uprising 04 Dec. 2001-- Keith: The uprising itself was triggered by Taliban 'prisoners' taking up arms and turning them on their captors. This changed their status from prisoners to armed combatants,"
• Text: Shutting Down Terrorist Financial Networks 04 Dec. 2001-- The Bush administration December 4 froze the assets of The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Beit Al-Mal Holdings and Al-Aqsa Islamic Bank. President Bush said all three are Hamas-controlled organizations that finance terror.
• Text: O'Neill Announces Asset-Freeze of Hamas-Controlled Organizations 04 Dec. 2001-- Today we are shutting down three Hamas-controlled organizations that finance terror. The Holy Land Foundation masquerades as a charity, while its primary purpose is to fund Hamas.
• Text: U.N. Food Agency Employs Afghan Women 04 Dec. 2001-- After years of being banned from any kind of professional work by the Taliban's harsh rule, thousands of women are now getting the chance to return to employment through WFP's Afghan operations.
• Transcript: Coalition Spokesman Says Afghan Talks Making Progress 04 Dec. 2001-- Keith: There has been one Coalition combat death in Afghanistan - Mr. Mike Spann plus a handful of injuries. That is the figure. One. Not 40, not 65, not 200, not 2,000.

US Domestic Responses

• HAMAS / CHICAGO VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Federal agents near Chicago (Tuesday) raided the office of a charitable organization the U-S government says raises money for the Palestinian militant group Hamas
• TALEBAN/AMERICAN FIGHTER VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says no decisions have been made about what do with a American who was fighting with the Taleban in Afghanistan.
• BUSH / MIDEAST VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- President Bush is keeping pressure on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to find those responsible for the weekend suicide bombings in Israel. He is also calling on U-S allies to help rid the Middle East of terrorism
• ANTHRAX / DECONTAMINATION VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Workers in Washington have finished fumigating offices in the Hart Senate Office Building that had been contaminated with anthrax. They expect to get test results back later this week, hoping they prove the lengthy process got the job done
• CONGRESS / IRAQ VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- A resolution calling on Iraq to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back into Iraq has been introduced in the U-S House of Representatives. The move comes as the Bush administration is weighing whether to use military force against Iraq to press Baghdad to accept the return of the inspectors, three years after they left
• BUSH HAMAS VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- President Bush has frozen the assets of a U-S based charity that he says helps fund the militant Palestinian group Hamas
• U-S & UZBEKISTAN VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Cabinet ministers from Uzbekistan have been in Washington to discuss expanded relations with the United States. Uzbekistan has played a key role in the war against terrorism by providing an air base and access for more than one-thousand U-S troops
• INDIA/U-S VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Senior U-S officials visiting India say relations between the two countries are set to forge ahead
• U.S. Tightens Net Around Terrorists' Financial Backers USIA 04 Dec. 2001-- Cracks down on three Hamas-affiliated groups

International Responses

• AFGHAN CONFERENCE VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- U-N-sponsored talks on the future of Afghanistan have found agreement on the shape of a future interim government
• U-N / AFGHANISTAN VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- The United Nations says thousands of Afghan refugees are returning to Kabul as the security situation improves in the city. But the return of the refugees has forced a re-evaluation of the need for assistance
• AFGHAN TALKS / REACTION VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Officials from the United States and Pakistan are praising the United Nations for progress made at talks to establish a transitional government in Afghanistan. Following a week of intense discussions in Germany, rival Afghan factions accepted a broad outline of how the war-ravaged country is to be ruled for the next six-month

Defense Industry

• Boeing Delivers 79th C-17 TO U.S. Air Force Boeing 04 Dec 2001 -- Boeing today delivered the 79th C-17 Globemaster III to the U.S. Air Force during a ceremony at the production facility here. The aircraft was officially accepted by Chief Master Sgt. Kenneth Van Holbeck, the Command Chief Master Sergeant, United States Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
• General Dynamics is Awarded $42M Contract Modification for Submarine Work General Dynamics 04 Dec 2001 -- The U.S. Navy has awarded Electric Boat a $42.3 million contract modification for nuclear submarine work. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
• Egypt Buys Lockheed Martin's Multiple Launch Rocket System Rockets Lockheed Martin 04 Dec 2001 -- Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has received a $72.2 million not-to-exceed contract from the U.S. government for more than 400 Extended-Range Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) rocket pods for Egypt.
• Lockheed Martin Receives $80 Million Army TACMS Block IA Contract From Korea Lockheed Martin 04 Dec 2001 -- Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has received an $80.7 million contract to produce 111 Army Tactical Missile System (Army TACMS) Block IA missiles for the Republic of Korea.
• Boeing-led Missile Defense Team Scores Another "Hit"; Successful System Test Includes Intercept Over Pacific Boeing 04 Dec 2001 -- The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program's Integrated Flight Test was once again a success -- resulting in an intercept and complete destruction of the incoming target.
• ORBITAL SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES TARGET VEHICLE FOR U.S. GROUND-BASED MIDCOURSE MISSILE DEFENSE TEST Orbital Sciences Corp. 04 Dec 2001 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that its Orbital/Suborbital Program Target Launch Vehicle (OSP TLV) successfully completed its mission as the target vehicle for yesterday's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) segment of the U.S. Department of Defense's missile defense program, which is being led by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO).
• European team plans to create Galileo Services consortium to support Galileo Thales 04 Dec 2001 -- Europe is faced with a formidable challenge, but also a major opportunity, for its satellite navigation system which is becoming central to all forms of transport and location-based services, and also many other activities linked to time synchronisation (mobile telecoms networks, financial transactions).

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 04 Dec 2001

News Reports

• TERRORISM / DETAINEES VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Critics and supporters of the Bush Administration's round up of suspected terrorists continue to clash in the U-S Congress.
• Maelstrom in the Middle East VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- Diplomats and analysts are continuing to assess the impact on the peace process of this week's violence in the Middle East. Three Palestinian suicide bombers left more than two dozen dead in Israeli and the Israeli response from its warplanes, gunships, and tanks resulted in more than 100 Palestinian casualties in the West Bank and Gaza
• SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY VOA 04 Dec. 2001-- According to opinion polls taken in the weeks since the September 11th attacks, most Americans want surveillance increased in public places
• Reconstruction of Afghanistan Requires Long-Term Commitment USIA 04 Dec. 2001-- Forum discusses International Crisis Group report