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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Marines adapt to new environment USMC News 17 Feb 2003 -- The skyline portrait painted with a blue horizon, green palm trees and sandy, yellow beaches is fading from their memories.
• JTF-HOA Commanding General Visits Bataan Navy NewStand 17 Feb 2003 -- Major General John F. Sattler, Commanding General 2nd Marine Division, Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, visited USS Bataan (LHD 5) recently. He arrived by helicopter from the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) to speak with Bataan's Sailors and Marines.
• AFGHANISTAN: Key humanitarian route expected to reopen IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- In Afghanistan, avalanches have blocked the Salang tunnel, the main access route from the capital, Kabul, to northern provinces and the only all-weather direct route between the north and south of the country. The tunnel has been blocked by heavy snow for the past three days, the longest closure this year, thereby severely hampering the movement of people and goods, including humanitarian supplies.

Defense Policy / Programs

• U-S/KOREA EXERCISES VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- The United States and South Korea are going ahead with annual military exercises, despite tensions over North Korea's nuclear programs. The news comes as Pyongyang declares it is ready to take on the United States in a nuclear war.
• Blue Ridge Sailors Enjoy Otaru Port Visit, Ice Festival Navy NewStand 17 Feb 2003 -- Snowboarding, skiing, fresh seafood, world-class ramen and the 54th annual Sapporo Ice Festival tantalized the senses of USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) and 7th Fleet staff Sailors during the command ship's four day port visit here Feb. 8-11.
• E-U / NATO / IRAQ VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- European Union leaders are gathering at an emergency summit in Brussels in search of a common position on the divisive issue of Iraq, with Britain and Spain arguing for a military option and France and Germany insisting on diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis. The E-U meeting comes after NATO papered over its own differences on Iraq and hammered out an agreement that will allow the alliance to plan for the defense of Turkey in case of war.

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS To Purchase Advanced Power Technologies, Inc BAE Systems 17 Feb 2003 -- BAE Systems is delighted to announce the maiden flight of the first British Typhoon series production aircraft.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN ROLLS OUT 100TH C-130J SUPER HERCULES TRANSPORT Lockheed Martin 17 Feb 2003 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] rolled the 100th member of the C-130J Super Hercules family off the production line today at its manufacturing facility in Marietta, Ga. Coming just more than seven years after the inaugural flight of the first new-generation Hercules, the latest milestone aircraft, an HC-130J, is slated for delivery to the U.S. Coast Guard later this spring.

Other Conflicts

• U-N / AFGHANISTAN / PALESTINE VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- The United Nations has issued two reports on the environmental effects of years of conflict in Afghanistan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- Israeli commandos shot and killed the head of the military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip today (Monday). At least two other Palestinians were killed and a house demolished during the Israeli offensive against the militant Islamic group.

• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC-CHAD: Presidents reconcile IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- Presidents Idriss Deby of Chad and Ange-Felix Patasse of the Central African Republic (CAR) vowed on Saturday to reduce bilateral tension and repair their badly battered relations arising from cross-border insecurity.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: 170 MLC fighters return home IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- The first 170 of the 1,500 fighters of the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) who have been shoring up the Central African Republic (CAR) army since 25 October 2002, went home to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Saturday.
• DRC: ICRC supplies food, seeds to families in Kindu IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- A distribution of 300 mt of food supplies and seeds for 10,000 families in precarious nutritional condition due to continuing hostilities was completed on Friday by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the eastern city of Kindu, Maniema Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• DRC: First meeting held to launch Ituri Pacification Commission IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- Kampala and Kinshasa have agreed on modalities for the implementation of the Ituri Pacification Commission (IPC) and for the withdrawal of Ugandan military forces remaining in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• IVORY COAST VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- Rebels with Ivory Coast's main insurgent group say they will not resume attacks immediately, despite the expiration of an ultimatum that they issued to the government more than a week ago.
• COTE D'IVOIRE: UNHCR pleads for regional cooperation IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reiterated a call to West African countries to provide asylum to Liberian refugees, whose protection is not guaranteed in Cote d'Ivoire or in their home country.
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Border demarcation to start in east IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- Demarcation of the contested border between Ethiopia and Eritrea is now due to start from the east, rather than from the west, sources told IRIN on Monday.
• SOMALIA: Confusion as talks' delegates relocate IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- Delegates to the Somali peace talks, arriving at the new venue in Nairobi from the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, have been greeted by chaos and confusion.
• LIBERIA: Thousands cross into Sierra Leone IRIN 17 Feb 2003 -- Thousands of displaced Liberians crossed into Sierra Leone following an upsurge of hostilities between Liberian government troops and rebels in the border town of Bo, the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 17 Feb 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 17 Feb 2003
• ZIMBABWE / TRIAL VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- Defense in the treason trial of Zimbabwe's leading opposition figures has obtained the transcript of an audio tape containing what the prosecution claims is highly incriminating evidence. The transcripts include conversation between the defendants and the prosecution's star witness in London.
• FRANCE / MUSLIMS VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- The French government's opposition to a war on Iraq is strongly supported by most people living in France. That includes some five million Muslims, many of them ethnic Arabs, who comprise almost 10 percent of the country's population. These Muslims -- along with France's long-standing interests in the Middle East -- may help explain President Jacques Chirac's call for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
• ISRAEL / TEMPLE MOUNT VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- A bulge has appeared in the southern wall of the Temple Mount, in the heart of the old city of Jerusalem. And like everything about this site -- holy to two religions -- it is controversial. Israelis and Arabs cannot agree on how dangerous the bulge is, or who should fix it, or how the site should be cared for.
• U-S / CHINA TRADE VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- U-S Trade Representative Robert Zoellick says China has done a good job of implementing World Trade Organization agreements since becoming a member 14 months ago. But Washington's top trade official is pushing Beijing to move faster to give U-S farmers and other exporters the market access they were promised.
• U-S / CHINA TRADE VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- U-S Trade Representative Robert Zoellick says China has done a good job of implementing World Trade Organization agreements since becoming a member 14 months ago. But Washington's top trade official is pushing Beijing to move faster to give U-S farmers and other exporters the market access they were promised.
• NIGERIA / OIL VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- Oil company officials in Nigeria say a strike called by oil workers is not affecting output.
• ACEH TRUCE VIOLATIONS VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- Ceasefire monitors in Indonesia's northern province of Aceh say both government forces and separatist rebels are violating the province's peace agreement. But monitors say the two sides are making progress on plans to lay down their weapons - and they are optimistic that the peace plan remains on track.
• ZIMBABWE / TRIAL VOA 17 Feb 2003 -- In Zimbabwe, the treason trial of the country's main opposition leader and two other opposition politicians is now in its third week. On Monday, the defense charged the government with failing to supply documents to back up evidence introduced in court by the state's main witness.