Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• LAAD keeps CentCom skies safe USMC News 17 Jan 2003 -- The helicopter is coming in low from the left side. The gunner presses the IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) switch, the tone comes back unknown. He engages the weapon system by depressing the actuating switch. The sound comes back like music to his ears, the weapon is active, the head seeking and searching for the target
• I MEF conducts MPF offload USMC News 17 Jan 2003 -- Ships from the Maritime Prepositioning Force were offloaded in support of the I Marine Expeditionary Force Jan. 17 at a port in Kuwait
• PAKISTAN: Water supplies resume for Afghan refugees IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Water supplies to refugees at a settlement in Pakistan's tribal areas resumed on Thursday, after negotiations and a different route was identified for tankers to use, following a blockade by local residents.

Defense Policy / Programs

• White House Daily Briefing White House 17 Jan 2003
• Joint Chiefs Chairman Takes Transformation Message to Industry Forum AFPS 17 Jan 2003-- Air Force Gen. Richard Myers hammered away at the "T" theme via video teleconference to a San Diego industry meeting this week.
• GUATEMALA/US VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- Guatemala is facing a possible suspension of U-S aid for failing to cooperate in the war on drugs. Catherine Elton reports from Guatemala City, the country risks being included on a U-S list of "decertified" nations that do not cooperate in the drug war
• PHILIPPINES / U-S TROOPS VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- American troops are preparing for another mission in the Philippines to train elite forces how to hunt terrorist groups. The southern Philippines has been plagued by violent Muslim separatists, kidnappers and suspected Southeast Asia terrorist cells
• Successful Tomahawk Launch Aboard Florida Precursor to SSGN Conversion Experiment NAVSEA News Wire 17 Jan 2003-- Two Tomahawk missiles were successfully launched from a missile tube of USS Florida (SSBN 728), an Ohio-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, in demonstration and validation (DEMVAL) tests earlier this week in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of western Florida.
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Completes Record Breaking Availability on Alexandria NAVSEA News Wire 17 Jan 2003-- Christmas arrived early for the Navy's submarine force, as USS Alexandria (SSN 757) returned home to Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn., following a depot maintenance period (DMP) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Kittery, Maine.
• EDITORIAL: REBUILDING AFGHANISTAN VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- Since October 1st, 2001, the United States has committed nearly eight-hundred-million dollars in humanitarian and reconstruction aid to help the people of Afghanistan
• BUSH / AFGHANISTAN VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- President Bush has paid a visit to several soldiers who were injured in U-S military operations in Afghanistan
• BUSH / AFGHANISTAN VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- President Bush has paid a visit to several soldiers who were injured in U-S military operations in Afghanistan

Defense Industry

• Northrop Grumman Awarded $34 Million Contract for Missile Canister Conversion On SSGN Submarine Program Northrop Grumman 17 Jan 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Electronic Systems sector has been awarded a $34 million contract from the U.S. Navy's Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) to adapt the missile tubes of SSBN (fleet ballistic missile submarine) submarines from launching nuclear ballistic missiles to conventional cruise missiles.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 17 Jan 2003
• DRC: Government requests establishment of UN criminal court IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) asked the UN Security Council on Thursday to establish a UN criminal court to try rebel groups accused of committing atrocities, including genocide, in the northeast of the country, news agencies reported.
• DRC: Support for army depends on power-sharing, says Belgian minister IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut said on Thursday that his country's support for the formation of a unified national army in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) depended on the implementation of the power-sharing accord signed on 17 December 2002.
• FRANCE / IVORY COAST VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- The Paris peace talks between Ivory Coast's government and rebels have been complicated by claims from each side that the other is violating a cease-fire. There has been little movement in the negotiations, now in their third day
• COTE D'IVOIRE: Light skirmish in western Cote d'Ivoire IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The Ivorian national army and rebels of the Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) clashed on Thursday morning in the western town of Blolequin, military sources confirmed to IRIN on Friday.
• BURUNDI: Zuma ends peace mission IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma ended on Thursday a four-day visit to Ethiopia and Burundi to gather support for the deployment of an African mission force in Burundi.
• BURUNDI: 2002 Year-ender: Peace is within reach IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- A ceasefire agreement between Burundi's transitional government and Pierre Nkurunziza's faction of the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) failed to come into force on 30 December 2002, because an African mission to monitor its application failed to arrive. The mission was also to have set up cantonment camps for the former rebels and establish a ceasefire commission.
• U-S-Kosovo-Serbia VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- The United States said Friday it is premature to start discussing the final status of Kosovo, the Yugoslav province that has been a de facto international protectorate since 1999. The comments follow a call for talks on the status of Kosovo Thursday by Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic
• U-S/SUDAN PEACE VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- The special U-S envoy for Sudan says the next three months of talks are particularly important to efforts to end Africa's longest-running civil war. Talks were supposed to start on Wednesday but the Sudanese government refused to attend
• SOMALIA: REVIEW OF 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The year 2002 ended as it began, with Somalia still mired in conflict, insecurity and instability. Even areas which were hitherto relatively peaceful and stable, such as Baidoa in the south and Puntland in the northeast, became caught up in the violence. This created an acute humanitarian situation in some parts of the country.
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: REVIEW OF PEACE PROCESS 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The year 2002 marked a significant stage in the Eritrea-Ethiopia peace process with the announcement of a new border between the two countries, and demarcation expected to take place this year.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Year-ender 2002: An uncertain future ahead, even as peacekeepers arrive IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Survival must have been uppermost in President Ange-Felix Patasse's mind throughout 2002 as fighting between his forces and those loyal to the former Central African Republic (CAR) army chief of staff, Francois Bozize, gained intensity and heightened tension between the CAR and neighbouring Chad.
• RWANDA: Year-ender 2002: Justice makes slow progress IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Under intense diplomatic pressure, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his counterpart, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), signed the Pretoria Peace Accord on 30 July.
• CONGO: Year-ender 2002: Numerous gains overshadowed by crisis in Pool region IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The year 2002 began with great promise for the Republic of Congo (ROC): a five-year transitional period following a decade of recurrent civil war were brought to a close with a national referendum for a new constitution and elections that generally proceeded according to schedule for a national assembly, a senate, and a president.
• GUINEA: NRC update on displaced Guineans IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Encouraged by the overall improvements in the security situation in the country, thousands of internally displaced Guineans returned to their home areas during 2002, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Thursday in its updated background information on the situation of displaced Guineans.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 17 Jan 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 17 Jan 2003
• ZIMBABWE POLITICS VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- Speculation about the future of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party increased Friday, with publication in a local newspaper of an interview with the head of the security forces, who acknowledged Zimbabwe is in an economic crisis
• INDONESIA KELLY VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- U-S Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is in Indonesia, for talks on security measures and anti-terrorism efforts. But the visit comes amid a new controversy over the U-S-led war on terror
• INDONESIA / SPEAKER CORRUPTION VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- A high court in Indonesia has upheld the three year jail sentence of Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung -- convicted of corruption last year. Mr. Tandjung's lawyers say they will appeal to the Supreme Court
• KENYA/ I-M-F VOA 17 Jan 2003 -- The head of the International Monetary Fund in Africa says he expects to resume funding for Kenya by mid-year. The new Kenyan government is set to push through crucial anti-corruption legislation to meet I-M-F demands
• ZIMBABWE: Army chief admits country deep in crisis IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The powerful head of Zimbabwe's army this week appeared to break ranks with the ruling ZANU-PF party and publicly admitted the extent of the economic crisis in the country.
• ZIMBABWE: MDC accuse police of torture IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Friday accused the police of torturing party officials taken into custody.
• DRC: Chronology 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003
• CONGO: Chronology for 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Chronology of 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003
• DRC: Year-ender 2002: Positive moves on many fronts, despite significant setbacks IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The year 2002 was one of mixed results for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), though it ended on a generally promising note for things to come in 2003.
• BURUNDI: Chronology of events during 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003
• RWANDA: Chronology of events in 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- In Central Asia this week, opposition to Kyrgyzstan’s upcoming constitutional referendum on 2 February grew as the government of President Askar Akayav attempted to respond to sensitive political issues.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Chronology of humanitarian and related developments in 2002 IRIN 17 Jan 2003
• SOMALIA: The experience of separated Somali children IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- Somali parents are paying smugglers up to US $10,000 to take their children abroad, as part of a lucrative and exploitative international child-smuggling business. Faced with desperate choices, many parents who see no future in their own country allow their children to be abandoned by "agents" at airports and railway stations in European and North American countries.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: President reshuffles government, army and police IRIN 17 Jan 2003 -- The President of Central African Republic, Ange-Felix Patasse, reshuffled the government, army and police on Wednesday; but retained Prime Minister Martin Ziguele at his post.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN COMPLETES STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL SPACE SYSTEMS Lockheed Martin 17 Jan 2003 -- Following an analysis of strategic options in response to ongoing overcapacity issues in the commercial satellite-manufacturing marketplace, Lockheed Martin today announced it will advance and extend its aggressive realignment initiative, begun in July 2001, to consolidate and streamline management, engineering and manufacturing organizations within its Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) business, which is located in Newtown, PA.