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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• USS Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group Completes COMPTUEX, Commences Deployment NNS 04 Feb 2003 -- Ships and aircraft of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Carrier Battle Group successfully completed their Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) today, and have been certified ready to deploy. The battle group, commanded by Rear Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., will deploy from the Puerto Rican Operating Area today in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and other contingencies if required.
• Afghan Army Units Doing Well in Field AFPS 04 Feb 2003 -- U.S. officials in Afghanistan have said the Afghan national army units are gaining operational experience and are working well with coalition troops.
• Marine Corps' top leadership visits CentComs AOR USMC 04 Feb 2003 -- The 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps toured the Middle East and parts of Afghanistan in his early February visit. Gen. Michael W. Hagee took the opportunity to visit Marines and Sailors in the region to say thanks for their untiring support to the nation.
• Afghan army puts its first unit on patrol Army News 04 Feb 2003 -- The first operational unit in the Afghan National Army is making their presence known by patrolling local streets.
• EDITORIAL: COMBAT CONTINUES IN AFGHANISTAN VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- The oppressive Taleban regime no longer runs Afghanistan and that country is no longer a safe haven for al-Qaida terrorists. But the U.S.-led coalition is continuing its campaign of tracking down remaining Taleban and al-Qaida.
• Two Robins units receive deployment orders ACC 04 Feb 2003 -- The 5th Combat Communications Group and 116th Air Control Wing here received orders to deploy to the Central Command theater of operations.
• AFGHANISTAN: Coalition forces launch reconstruction in Gardez IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Last weekend marked the opening of the Coalition forces' first Civil-Military Operations Centre (CMOC) for reconstruction in the southern Afghanistan province of Paktia, marking a strategic shift from battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda renegades to reconstruction work.
• PAKISTAN: Dispute endangers thousands of Afghan refugees IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- International aid agencies have expressed concern over supplies to thousands of Afghan refugees in camps in southwestern Pakistan, following a blockade by landlords in protest at the employment of security guards at the camp, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers 04 Feb 2003 -- Finally, tomorrow Secretary Powell will speak to the United Nations Security Council about Iraq and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. In our country, in courts of law it has been customary to seek evidence that could prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That approach, of course, is appropriate when the objective is to protect the rights of the accused. But in an age of weapons of mass destruction and weapons that can kill tens of thousands of innocent people, our goal has to be to take all reasonable steps to protect the lives of our citizens. That is a quite different task. What is being tested during this period is not whether the inspectors can discover something that the Iraqi regime is determined to hide; quite the contrary. What is being tested is whether or not, after more than a decade, Saddam Hussein will finally cooperate with the U.N. resolutions requiring his cooperation. Regrettably, the answer is more apparent every day as he continues to deceive and deny and reject those U.N. resolutions.
• PENTAGON/GUANTANAMO VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- There has been a sudden surge in suicide attempts by al-Qaida terrorist detainees held at the U-S Navy base at Guantanamo, Cuba
• Guard, Reserve Destined for Bigger Homeland Defense Roles AFPS 04 Feb 2003 -- The president's nominee to become DoD's chief liaison to the Department of Homeland Security told U.S. lawmakers during a recent confirmation hearing that he sees the Guard and Reserve assuming more homeland defense duties.
• Vandenberg team trains for SWAT mission AFSC 04 Feb 2003 -- "Put your hands above your head!" shouted the airman as he aimed his weapon at a mock terrorist. Team members moved in, restrained the terrorist and took him into custody.
• NAVAIR's Hairy Buffalo Provides Network for Sea Strike NAVAIR 04 Feb 2003 -- The Hairy Buffalo, NAVAIR's Time Critical Targeting test bed, demonstrated the power of forward-based decision-making during a recent Navy experiment in the Bahamas. Sponsored by NAVSEA, Commander, Naval Submarine Forces, OPNAV N61F (FORCEnet requirements office) and NAVAIR's Network Centric Warfare Office, the Giant Shadow experiment assessed emerging NCW tactics and technology requirements in the areas of networks, data fusion, command & control, situational awareness tools, and platform/sensor architectures.
• FY 2004 Department of Defense Budget Released NNS 04 Feb 2003 -- President George W. Bush recently released details of his fiscal year (FY) 2004 Department of Defense (DoD) budget. The budget requests $379.9 billion in discretionary budget authority - $15.3 billion above FY 2003.
• Ronald Reagan Sailors Deploy to Support USS Theodore Roosevelt NNS 04 Feb 2003 -- PCU Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Sailors embarked aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), which is currently underway participating in combined Composite Training Unit (COMTUEX) and Joint Task Force (JTFX) exercises, Jan. 28.
• Base armament flight reaches 100 percent PACAFNS 04 Feb 2003 -- The Munitions Activities Standardization Program inspection team found Kunsan Air Base armament flight's War Reserve Material / Alternate Mission Equipment section holds 100-percent serviceable rate on all its 207 pieces of WRM equipment.
• 51st Medical Group test medical decontamination shelter PACAFNS 04 Feb 2003 -- A 19-person team comprised of several Air Force specialties from the 51st Medical Group are doing their part to improve chemical and biological defense capability within the Air Force and Department of Defense.
• Putting airborne 'eyes' on target from below PACAFNS 04 Feb 2003 -- The Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii was host to members of the 25th Air Support Operations Squadron who directed F-16 Fighting Falcons toward their targets during the first ever Sentry Strike exercise.
• Department of Defense assets support search effort for space shuttle Columbia AFSC 04 Feb 2003 -- Department of Defense assets currently involved in search, security and transportation operations related to the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia include: U.S. Air Force -- C-141 aircraft from McGuire AFB, N.J., will be used to transport NASA's rapid response team from Kennedy Space Center to Barksdale AFB, La.
• TMO puts people, things on the move ACC 04 Feb 2003 -- The transport of passengers and cargo is an essential part of the daily operations here. The Traffic Management Office of the 40th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron ensures equipment and people get to where they need to be.
• DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY SOLDIER KILLED IN QATAR 04 Feb 2003 -- The Department of Defense identified today the Army National Guard soldier killed in Qatar Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003.

Defense Industry

• U.S. Army Selects General Dynamics to Lead Development of Land Warrior General Dynamics 04 Feb 2003 -- General Dynamics Decision Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been awarded a $59.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to enhance the current version of the U.S. Army’s Land Warrior system. The system, including key soldier elements, consists of personal electronics, communications, global navigation and other integrated equipment.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 04 Feb 2003
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT United Nations 04 Feb 2003
• AFRICAN SUMMIT / IVORY COAST VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- The 53-member African Union has endorsed the controversial peace accord aimed at ending Ivory Coast's nearly five-month-long civil war.
• AFRICA: AU "strengthened" by Peace and Security Council IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Noting that Africa has armed itself to the teeth to tackle its raging conflicts, the African Union (AU) on Monday agreed to set up a UN-style Security Council, known as the Peace and Security Council (PSC). However, its formation still has to be ratified.
• AFRICA: AU focuses on conflicts IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The African Union summit came to an end late Monday night with several pledges by the continent’s leaders to try tackle crises blighting the continent.
• WEST AFRICA: Protect children during conflicts, UN official urges IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu on Friday urged countries affected by armed conflicts to draw inspiration from Sierra Leone, where the conclusion of a peace agreement paved the way for a programme focusing on the demobilisation and reintegration of about 7,000 former child soldiers.
• UN / IVORY COAST VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- The 15-member U-N Security Council (UNSC) Tuesday has endorsed the deployment of peace keepers in the war torn Ivory Coast and backed the peace accord.
• IVORY COAST / REBELS VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- Rebels in Ivory Coast say they will not renegotiate a peace deal that was agreed to last month to end a four-month war in the West African country
• Annan reiterates call for peace in Côte d'Ivoire UN News Centre 04 Feb 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today condemned violence and once again called on all Ivoirians to work towards making the Linas-Morcoussis Agreement a concrete first step towards peace in Côte d'Ivoire.
• COTE D'IVOIRE: African Union backs peace deal IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- African leaders attending an African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa have agreed to endorse a French-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending a four-month-old armed conflict in Cote d’Ivoire, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday.
• LIBERIA / FIGHTING VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- Fighting is raging in Liberia. Residents of the capital, Monrovia, say rebel attacks have come within a few kilometers of the city.
• LIBERIA / FIGHTING VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- Fighting is raging in Liberia, where residents say rebel attacks have come within 40-kilometers of the capital, Monrovia
• LIBERIA: Civilians flee renewed fighting in Kley district IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Hundreds of civilians, mainly women and children, fled fighting on Tuesday in Kley District, 37 km west of Liberia's capital, Monrovia, between Liberian government forces and members of the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).
• DRC: UK to assist in formation of unified national army IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The United Kingdom has expressed its willingness to assist the numerous armed factions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with their integration into a unified national army, according to the UK ambassador to the DRC, Jim Atkinson.
• DRC: RCD-Goma offers amnesty to Mayi-Mayi militias IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has announced a general amnesty for Mayi-Mayi militias, according to an RCD-Goma spokesman, Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga.
• BURUNDI: Government, rebel faction meet to discuss ceasefire implementation IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Representatives from the transitional government of Burundi and Jean-Pierre Nkurunziza's faction of the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces nationales de liberation (CNDD-FDD) are meeting in the Tanzanian commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, with a view to reaching an agreement on the implementation of the Arusha ceasefire accord signed in December 2002.
• BURUNDI: President Buyoya calls for African peacekeeping force IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Burundi President Pierre Buyoya called on Monday for an African peacekeeping force to help resolve the bitter civil war in the tiny Central Africa state.
• YUGOSLAVIA / END VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- The parliament of the Yugoslav federation has agreed to consign Yugoslavia to the history books and create a new nation.
• UN deeply concerned by continuing violations of withdrawal line in southern Lebanon UN News Centre 04 Feb 2003 -- The United Nations today voiced deep concern that air violations by Israel across the line of withdrawal in southern Lebanon are continuing and seem to have increased in the past few days.
• SRI LANKA / INDEPENDENCE VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- Sri Lanka has celebrated the 55th anniversary of its independence from British rule amid hopes that a solution is at hand to the bitter ethnic conflict that has raged for the past two decades. The country's president has asked the country to put the war behind it.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- Efforts to build a new coalition government in Israel are continuing, but so far there is no firm indication of what form that government might take. Meanwhile, there are new reports of shootings and home demolitions in the Palestinian territories
• NIGERIA: Curfew imposed in oil town following clashes IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The authorities in Delta State, southern Nigeria, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Monday in the oil town of Warri to curb three days of ethnic clashes in which more than 20 people were said to have died.
• SUDAN: Government, rebels sign new MOU on cessation of hostilities IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Tuesday to reaffirm their commitment to the total cessation of hostilities, spokespersons from both sides told IRIN.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: National dialogue budget estimated at US $1.2 million IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The Central African Republic (CAR) has prepared a provisional budget of 750 million francs CFA (US $1.2 million) for a "national dialogue" expected to take place in March, an official document made available to IRIN indicates.
• KENYA: Government reconsidering encampment policy for refugees IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The Kenyan government is reviewing its policy of keeping the country's refugee population in camps in the north of the country.
• ANGOLA: Armour-plated vehicles needed to reach mine-infested areas IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- World Vision plans to acquire armour-plated 4x4 vehicles in order to reach hundreds of thousands of Angolans cut off from humanitarian aid in areas rendered inaccessible by landmines.
• RWANDA: UN General Assembly elects 11 ICTR judges IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- The UN General Assembly elected 11 permanent judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on 31 January, UN News reported. The judges, whose terms begin on 25 May, will serve for four years.
• SOMALIA: Factions face sanctions for ceasefire violations IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Somali factions attending peace talks underway in Eldoret, Kenya, face expulsion or other sanctions if they continue to violate the ceasefire agreement, Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka warned on Monday.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 04 Feb 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 04 Feb 2003
• AFGHAN / U-N / RIGHTS VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- United Nations official is urging the government of Afghanistan to make sure criminals don't become members of Afghanistan's new national army and police.
• UN disarmament advisory panel set to meet against backdrop of rising military spending UN News Centre 04 Feb 2003 -- An advisory board on disarmament issues to Secretary-General Kofi Annan is set to address disarmament and development against the backdrop of rising global military expenditures, estimated at $839 billion last year.
• EAST TIMOR INDICTMENTS VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- United Nations prosecutors in East Timor have indicted 32 members of the Indonesian Armed Forces and several militias for alleged crimes against humanity. Among those accused are four military officers and a notorious militia leader.
• CAMBODIA / THAILAND VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- senior Cambodian official has apologized to the Thai government for last week's anti-Thai riots in Cambodia and promised to make amends.
• FAMINE-SOUTHERN AFRICA VOA 04 Feb 2003 -- The World Food Program says it plans to provide food for more than a quarter of Zimbabwe's population this year. But the agency says a humanitarian crisis has been averted in other parts of southern Africa, at least for the time being.
• AFRICA: Mugabe slams political interference IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has urged African leaders to resist attempts by the international community to interfere in the continent's domestic politics.
• RWANDA: Kagame plea for international support IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- President Paul Kagame has appealed for international support for Rwanda as the country approaches the end of a transition period and prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections.
• DRC: Rehabilitation of Goma airport launched IRIN 04 Feb 2003 -- A 12-month long rehabilitation of Goma international airport in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began on Saturday in an effort to reclaim 500 metres of runway that were buried under lava flows from Mt Nyiragongo on 18 January 2002, Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported on Monday.