Operations
Other Conflicts
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
News Reports

Current Operations

• U-N AID / AFGHANISTAN VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- The World Health Organization is rushing medical aid to Afghans trapped by winter snows. Meanwhile, other U-N agencies are transferring Afghan refugees to what they say are safer shelters

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 12 Feb 2002
• PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT United Nations 12 Feb 2002
• ZIMBABWE POLITICS VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Zimbabwe and the European Union (E-U) continued negotiations (Tuesday) over accreditation of the E-U observer mission for the country's March 9 and 10 presidential elections
• U-N / LIBERIA VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- The United Nations Refugee Agency, U-N-H-C-R, says (Tuesday) fighting between rebels and government forces in Liberia has created a new refugee crisis in western Africa
• MILOSEVIC/TRIAL VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- The trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on war crimes charges, including genocide and crimes against humanity, has begun at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague
• INDONESIA/PEACE DEAL VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Muslim and Christian leaders in Indonesia's war-ravaged province of Maluku have signed a peace agreement (Tuesday) to end more than three years of bloodshed that has cost thousands of lives

Defense Policy / Programs

• 26th MEU (SOC) warriors return to sea Marine Corps News 12 Feb. 2002-- Nearly two months of combat operations during Operation Enduring Freedom came to an end today as the Marines and Sailors of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) completed their back load onto the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) after having completed one of the most historic missions in recent Marine Corps' history in southern Afghanistan.
• PENTAGON / INTELLIGENCE VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Top defense officials say Taleban and al-Qaida detainees in U-S custody are providing valuable intelligence in the fight against terrorism
• AFGHAN/PENTAGON VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- America's top General has rejected charges that U-S troops beat Afghan detainees seized in what was apparently a botched raid last month in southern Afghanistan
• In exercise off Okinawa, Navy ships test defenses against incoming threats Air Froce News 12 Feb. 2002-- U.S. Navy ships got a chance to fire missiles last week in an inbound-missile exercise off the coast of Okinawa.
• U.S., Pentagon Attention on Iraq Is Long-standing, Rumsfeld Says USIA 12 Feb. 2002-- President Bush raised public speculation about U.S. military involvement in Iraq when he called that country part of "an axis of evil" during his Jan. 29 State of the Union address.
• Transcript: Defense Department Briefing, February 12, 2002 12 Feb. 2002-- Rumsfeld: Well, if you think about what the president and Secretary Powell have said, what they have said, it seems to me, is pretty much self-evident, that every year that goes by and the inspectors are not there, the development of their weapons of mass destruction proceed apace, bringing them closer to a time when they will have those weapons developed in a form that is more threatening than it had been the year before or the year before that.

Defense Industry

• First Production Units for Tiger Antitank Armament Delivered EADS 12 Feb 2002 -- On 30 January 2002, EADS/LFK Lenkflugkörpersysteme GmbH, the German Missile Company of EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, punctually delivered the first production units destined for the ATA antitank armament of the Tiger helicopter to Eurocopter. The ATA firing post enables the Hot and Trigat LR antitank guided missiles to be launched from the helicopter.
• Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Receives $2.681 Billion Contract for 13 F-22 Raptor Air Dominance Fighters & Related Program Activities Lockheed Martin 12 Feb 2002 -- LeadThe Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]-led F-22 Raptor industry team has received a $2.681 billion contract from the U.S. Air Force to build 13 additional air dominance fighter jets and to execute other activities related to the successful execution of Lot 2 production.
• Northrop Grumman Awarded Contract for SSGN Submarine Missile Canister Conversion Northrop Grumman 12 Feb 2002 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Electronic Systems sector has been awarded a $16.6 million contract from the U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) for the demonstration/validation (DEM/VAL) of a Multiple All-Up-Round Canister (MAC) concept used to adapt the missile tubes of Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN) submarines from launching nuclear ballistic missiles to conventional cruise missiles.
• US Navy orders Sea Guardian Diver Defence Systems Thales 12 Feb 2002 -- The Sea Guardian system is designed specifically to detect,classify and track,fully-automatically,divers at ranges suitable for response and countermeasures. These products are considered essential for deployment in underwater protection of Naval and Military assets in today 's hostile threat environment, and are vital to the underwater safeguarding of infrastructure in Homeland Defense and the war on global terrorism.

News Reports

• Transcript: Powell On State Department's FY 2003 Budget 12 Feb. 2002-- Powell: We continue to develop sanctions, improve our sanctions regime toward Iraq to make sure that they do not succeed in their horrible quest to develop weapons of mass destruction. And we also are examining options with respect to regime change because the people of the region and the people of the world and the people of Iraq will be better off with a new regime.
• U-S-SUDAN VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- The United States has angrily condemned a Sudanese government air strike against a World Food Program Delivery site in the southern part of the country. The attack, which occurred last Sunday, is reported to have killed two children and injured a dozen more civilians
• POWELL / KOREA VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Secretary of State Colin Powell says President Bush will make an unconditional offer of U-S dialogue with North Korea next week when he visits South Korea. The gesture would be aimed at easing concerns in Seoul about Mr. Bush's depiction of the communist government in the North as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and Iran
• TERROR MONEY VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Bush Administration officials told Congress Tuesday that the United States has made significant progress in its effort to shut down groups that finance terrorism
• CHALLENGE FOR AFGHAN WOMEN VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Four months ago, Afghan medical doctor Sima Samar [see-mah sah-mahr] was a refugee from the despotic rule of the Taleban. "I am still in love with that country," she told a Western correspondent. "I am dreaming of going back."
• UN/ARMED CONFLICT VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- A United Nations treaty banning governments from using children under the age of 18 in warfare went into effect Tuesday in an effort to reduce the number of child soldiers around the world
• POWELL/SENATE VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- Secretary of State Colin Powell told Senators Tuesday that there is - currently -- no U-S plan to wage war against Iran, Iraq or North Korea. The countries were listed by President Bush in his State- of-the-Union address as being part of an "Axis of Evil." Mr. Powell was cautioned by a senior Senate Democrat not to embark on any such conflict without Congressional authorization
• Powell Says Bush Administration Looking for Peaceful Solutions USIA 12 Feb. 2002-- Says "Axis of Evil" accurately describes Iran, Iraq, N. Korea
• RUSSIA / U-S / CENTRAL ASIA VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- A senior Russian official has called for the United States to abandon its military bases in the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia as soon as the war in Afghanistan is over
• U-N / SOMALIA VOA 12 Feb. 2002-- The United Nations says a dramatic increase in international development aid for Somalia could help the poor African nation from turning into the next Afghanistan
• SHAPE NEWS MORNING UPDATE 12 FEBRUARY 2002 12 Feb. 2002-- Germany backs Baltic NATO bids
• SHAPE NEWS SUMMARY & ANALYSIS 12 FEBRUARY 2002 12 Feb. 2002-- Landmark Milosevic trial opens