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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• PARATROOPER INJURED DURING TRAINING EXERCISE CENTCOM 21 Feb 2003 -- A paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division was injured today during a live-fire training exercise here.
• EDITORIAL: AFGHANISTAN'S TRANSFORMATION VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- The September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States led to the deaths of more than three-thousand people from ninety countries. One consequence of that terrible event was the beginning of the war against terrorism and the liberation of the Afghan people.
• PHILIPPINES U-S VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Philippine officials have denied a report that U-S troops, to be deployed in the country for a 10-month counter-terrorism exercise, would take part in combat against Muslim separatist rebels.
• GERMANY/IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Germany says a war in Iraq is likely to inflame anti-western sentiment in Afghanistan, and could lead Berlin to pull its troops out of the International Security Assistance Force there. German Defense Minister Peter Struck says his government has made plans to evacuate civilians and, eventually, German troops from Afghanistan, if tension becomes too high.
• CLE assumes control of Camp Lemonier for CJTF-HOA USMC News 21 Feb 2003 -- The Command Logistics Element, Marine Central Command, assumed control of base operations here Feb. 9 with the arrival of the last 90 members of the unit.
• Planes, troops flood through Rhein-Main AFPN 21 Feb 2003 -- Before Sept. 11, 2001, the 726th Air Mobility Squadron here turned nearly a dozen aircraft a day. Currently, the average is 40 aircraft with about 2,200 people transiting the base during what is now considered a "normal" day.
• 'United We Land' - Beachmasters Own the Beach Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- In the tranquility of an early morning sunrise, U.S. Navy vessels can barely be seen transiting along the watery horizon. Along the shoreline, waves rustle in, and the Sailors of Beach Master Unit 1 (BMU-1), homported in Coronado, Calif., stand ready to receive amphibious landing craft of all types.
• 'America's Flagship' Hosts Distinguished Kuwaiti Guests Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- In yet another demonstration of the strength of the international coalition supporting the global war on terrorism, five senior Kuwaiti military officials recently spent an evening on 'America's Flagship,' USS Constellation (CV 64). The group of distinguished officials were led by Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mulla, Chief, Kuwaiti Naval Forces.
• MWSS-371 says farewell, deploys to support war on terrorism USMC News 21 Feb 2003 -- More than 300 Marines and sailors from Marine Wing Support Squadron-371 said tearful farewells to family and friends Feb. 11 as they boarded planes to the Persian Gulf region in support of operations in the Middle East.
• Lejeune units deployed all over the world USMC News 21 Feb 2003 -- Approximately 200 Marines and sailors from 2nd Force Service Support Group departed here Feb. 14 as part of a previously announced deployment of nearly 4,000 Marines to the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility.
• AFGHANISTAN: Aid workers told to remain cautious IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- The United Nations in Afghanistan has warned staff to remain cautious following anonymous threats warning of increased retaliation in the context of the possibility of a war in Iraq.
• AFGHANISTAN: Salang tunnel reopens IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- The Salang tunnel, a vital humanitarian link between the north and south of Afghanistan, has been reopened to traffic. The 2.6-km tunnel had been blocked by heavy snow for over a week - the longest closure this year.

Defense Policy / Programs

• HORN OF AFRICA: Press conference by US Major General John Sattler IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- US Major General John Sattler is commanding the US-led anti-terrorist task force based in Djibouti, known as the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF). Following are his comments to journalists in Addis Ababa on Friday after a three-day visit to Ethiopia.
• NATO Striking Fleet, U.S. Second Fleet Commander Visits CJTF-HOA Flagship Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- Commander NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic/Commander U.S. 2nd Fleet, Vice Adm. Cutler Dawson visited the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) headquarters, commanded by Maj. Gen. John F. Sattler Feb. 17, to discuss ongoing operations in the region.
• J-FIRE Standardizing Calls for Fire Across the Military Spectrum Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- The Air, Land, Sea Application Center (ALSA), based on Langley Air Force Base, Va., recently published and distributed 13,000 copies of the Multiservice, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures publication for Joint Application of Firepower (J-FIRE).
• U.S. Navy Concludes 'Crew Swap' in Australia Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- The U.S. Navy concluded the first of three crew swaps involving the Spruance-class destroyer USS Fletcher (DD 992), in Perth, Australia, recently.
• VMFT-401 fighting as 'bad guys' USMC News 21 Feb 2003 -- A quick walk through any of the facilities aboard the air station will make apparent the fact that the number of Marines and sailors here has been drastically reduced.
• Army National Guard begins air base security mission AFPN 21 Feb 2003 -- Look closely as you drive through base entry gates and you may notice a different style rank insignia on the security guard -- that of the Army National Guard.
• Mishaps Provide Source of Information For NAVAIR Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- When a U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat pilot and his radar interceptor were forced to eject from their aircraft into the Caribbean late last month, they probably didn't know how valuable their experience was to a small group of men and women at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) facility in Patuxent River, Md.
• Kitty Hawk's Jet Shop Powers Flight Ops Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- Every member of the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 team contributes to the success of the Hawk/5 mission, which is to safely launch and recover aircraft.
• U.S., Europe Share Same Goals, U.S. Envoy to EU Says Washington File 21 Feb 2003 -- Europeans and Americans have many common goals and are "forces for good" in the world, despite some disagreement over U.S. policies in Iraq, the Middle East and various homeland security measures, according to Rockwell Schnabel, U.S. ambassador to the European Union.
• U.S. Sending More Troops to Philippines Washington File 21 Feb 2003 -- As part of the ongoing global fight against terror, the United States has agreed to send additional military troops to the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. The decision to provide more support to the armed forces of the Philippines came in response to a request from the Philippine government, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters at a press briefing in Texas.
• Pentagon Sends Troops to Philippines to Help Fight Abu Sayyaf Group Washington File 21 Feb 2003 -- Following is the text of a February 21 news article from the American Forces Press Service on U.S.-Philippine operations against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group
• PENTAGON/PHILIPPINES VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- U-S and Philippine officials differ over whether there is an agreement to conduct joint anti-terrorist operations in the Philippines starting next month.
• THE BRING THEM HOME ALIVE ACT VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Over eight thousand American servicemen are listed as missing in action from the Korean War. More than one-thousand nine hundred others remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. In an effort to help any missing or captured Americans who might still be alive, the U-S Congress passed the "Bring Them Home Alive Act of 2000." The law provides that an individual and his family can receive refugee status and resettlement in the U-S, if the individual delivers into the custody of the United States government a living American serviceman listed as unaccounted for from either the Korean War or the Vietnam War.
• UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY LOOKS FORWARD NAVAIR 21 Feb 2003 -- Although NAVAIR China Lake Weapons Division has been involved in unmanned aerial vehicle and unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UAV/UCAV) technology for several years, the war in Afghanistan has focused more attention on this emerging technology.
• U.S., Philippines to Operate Against Abu Sayyaf Terrorists AFPS 21 Feb 2003 -- U.S. and Philippine forces will conduct combined operations against the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Southern Philippines, DoD officials said today.
• Services Working on Ways to Beat Battlefield Environmental Hazards AFPS 21 Feb 2003 -- Military environmental health risk experts were unprepared in 1991 when Saddam Hussein ordered engineers to blow up hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells. Over the next seven months, more than 1 billion barrels of oil went up in flames, some creating huge, dark soot plumes.
• Navy Re-Engineers Surface Warfare Training Navy NewStand 21 Feb 2003 -- Staff members from the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) headquarters in Pensacola, Fla., are celebrating a recent accomplishment in the re-engineering of the surface warfare officer (SWO) division officer at-sea training program.
• BUSH / TURKEY VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Discussions are continuing between the United States and Turkey over U-S use of Turkish bases in the case of possible military action against neighboring Iraq. U-S officials say they will not increase their offer of 26-billion dollars in economic assistance to Turkey.
• Multi-lateral training exercise under way in Thailand PACAFNS 21 Feb 2003 -- More than 400 U.S. airmen and Marines and 600 service members from Thailand and Singapore are flying air-to-air and air-to-ground missions as part of the annual multi-lateral Exercise Cope Tiger 03.
• US, Japanese NCOs participate in exchange program PACAFNS 21 Feb 2003 -- Several Yokota non-commissioned officers recently took part in a special exchange program designed to enhance bilateral operations.
• COMPACAF explains PACAF's road ahead PACAFNS 21 Feb 2003 -- The Pacific Air Forces commander recently shared his views on current issues including PACAF's role in the Aerospace Expeditionary Force, the need for vaccinations against weapons of mass destruction, rising world tensions, and operations tempo.
• Smallpox vaccination essential part of being prepared USAFE News 21 Feb 2003 -- Although the world's last case of smallpox was over twenty-five years ago, concerns that the virus could be used in a biological attack has lead to the implementation of the smallpox vaccination program.

• NATO Radar Planes Deployed to Turkey Washington File 21 Feb 2003 -- On February 20, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) General James L. Jones ordered NATO radar planes based in Geilenkirchen, Germany to deploy to Turkey and to begin flying missions in defense of Turkish airspace by February 27.

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS Holds North Eastern Soldier Modernisation Supplier Conference BAE Systems 21 Feb 2003 -- BAE Systems is holding a supplier conference in the North East of England focused on its bid to create a 'best of breed' partnership for the UK Ministry of Defence's Future Integrated Soldier Technology (FIST) programme.
• EADS: Tiger order book unchanged EADS 21 Feb 2003 -- Eurocopter’s order book for Tiger helicopters remains unchanged. The German Ministry of Defence has only made announcements on Friday about further options due for final negotiations in 2007 and first delivery in 2012. The number of units for this second batch of Tiger helicopters has never been specified and is not included in the EADS order book.
• Lockheed Martin Announces Technology Transfer with Growell Electronics and Growell Telecom Lockheed Martin 21 Feb 2003 -- Lockheed Martin announced today a commercial licensing agreement and technology transfer program with Growell Electronics and Growell Telecom, South Korean microcircuit and telecommunications module manufacturers.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 21 Feb 2003
• U.S. Options for Cote d'Ivoire Outlined Washington File 21 Feb 2003 -- The United States can take some steps to help bring peace in Cote d'Ivoire, but current problems in that country are the direct result of its leadership failing to engage fully in the difficult task of nation building following the end of colonial rule, a congressional committee was told.
• Security Council calls on Ivoirian parties to respect peace accord UN News Centre 21 Feb 2003 -- Expressing deep concern at the humanitarian and economic consequences of the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire for the whole West African region, members of the United Nations Security Council today called again on all Ivoirian political forces to immediately implement the peace agreement signed and adopted last month in France.
• IVORY COAST VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Fighting has died down in the Ivory Coast, but negotiations to try to form a national unity government are heating up.

• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Two Palestinians were reported killed by Israeli troops in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip early Friday morning. The violence comes following an international call for a ceasefire.
• MIDEAST/QUARTET VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- The so-called "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators -- the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- have called for an immediate cease-fire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during a meeting in London.

• RWANDA: Another genocide suspect transferred to ICTR detention facility IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- A former Rwandan military officer, wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTR) for Rwanda for his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, was transferred on Wednesday from the Republic of Congo to the tribunal's headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
• RWANDA-TANZANIA: Government delegation in Tanzania to sensitise refugees IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- A Rwandan government delegation is in Tanzania to brief Rwandan refugees on voluntary repatriation, government-owned Radio Rwanda reported on Friday. It said the delegates were in the Ngara and Kibondo districts in the northwestern Kagera Region, where about 2,600 Rwandans are living in refugee camps.
• DR of Congo: Annan mulls stronger UN mandate to counter rise in armed groups UN News Centre 21 Feb 2003 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) might have to be strengthened because of the proliferation of armed groups in the eastern part of the country.
• DRC: Proposals made for protection of future transitional government leaders IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- A group of experts has made a series of proposals for a united national army, an integrated police force, and the security of government leaders during a transitional phase in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• U-N/CONGO VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- The United Nations says nearly three-million internally displaced people in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo are living under precarious and destitute conditions. Representatives of nine U-N aid agencies, who made a two-week assessment mission to the area, say the needs of the people are immense.

• FRANCE/AFRICA SUMMIT VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- French President Jacques Chirac on Friday hailed a recent call by African leaders for a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis. Mr. Chirac's remarks came at the end of a French-African summit in Paris, aimed at forging new ties.
• SOMALIA: UN looks at boosting activities in south IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- A UN team which recently visited southern areas of Somalia has noted the potential for increased humanitarian activities in those regions.
• SUDAN: Urgent humanitarian needs in Southern Blue Nile IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- Humanitarian agencies in Sudan have identified pressing humanitarian needs in the Southern Blue Nile region of southern Sudan, where thousands of people are threatened by a combination of insecurity, water and food shortages.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Government rejects allegations of rights violations IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- The Central African Republic (CAR) government spokesman, Gabriel Jean Edouard Koyambounou, rejected on Thursday allegations that loyalist troops and their Congolese allies had perpetrated human right violations when they recaptured rebel-held towns in the north of the country.
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN says groups may be trying to "destabilise" Eritrea IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- Dissident groups may be trying to “destabilise” the Eritrean authorities, the UN’s peacekeeping force said on Friday.
• ANGOLA: Returning IDPs face rights abuses, NGO IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- A Geneva-based NGO has called on Angolan authorities to step up protection for the vast number of displaced people returning to their areas of origin since the end of the civil war last year.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 21 Feb 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 21 Feb 2003
• Facts about smallpox and anthrax USMC News 21 Feb 2003 -- There have been many misconceptions and rumors that have been following the topic of smallpox and anthrax vaccinations recently.
• Predictions of war: American citizens seem divided on willingness to strike USMC News 21 Feb 2003 -- The majority of prospects in our target market were too young to remember, understand or feel the impact of Desert Storm. With the prediction of war looming on the horizon, it's only natural to reflect on the last time U.S. forces were called up to fight in the deserts of Iraq. Today's military buildup in the Middle East is the largest movement of troops since the Gulf War ended 12 years ago. According to the Veterans Administration, there are 572,520 veterans from that war. As of Jan.13, 2003, President George W. Bush has approved a force of 250,000 military members to deploy to the Gulf region.
• NATO's Robertson Calls European Anti-Americanism Damaging, Corrosive AFPS 21 Feb 2003 -- NATO Secretary-General George Robertson labeled displays of European anti-Americanism and American anti- Europeanism as "damaging," "not fair" and "it's not right." He made these remarks as preparations continue for a possible showdown with Iraq and anti-war demonstrations escalate.
• ZIMBABWE / TRIAL VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- In Zimbabwe, the treason trial of the country's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is at the end of its third week. On Friday, the state's main witness admitted he could not recall Mr. Tsvangirai using the words murder, assassinate and coup d'etat in a meeting with him that was secretly filmed. The videotape of that meeting is the state's key piece of evidence against Mr. Tsvangirai, who is accused of planning to assassinate President Robert Mugabe ahead of presidential elections last year.
• NEW YORK FIRE VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says a barge explosion at an oil depot on Staten Island was an industrial accident. Two people are missing and one is in critical condition.
• FRANCE / G-7 VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Finance ministers from the Group-of-Seven industrialized nations, plus Russia, meet in Paris Saturday in an atmosphere overshadowed by war jitters and economic sluggishness.
• AFGHANISTAN/HEKMATYAR PROFILE VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- The United States has designated a former Afghanistan prime minister, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a global terrorist. Washington says Mr. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has participated in a series of terrorist acts committed by al-Qaida and Afghanistan's former Taleban rulers.
• ISRAEL/POLITICS VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is intensifying efforts to bring the Labor Party into a government of national unity. Mr. Sharon met Friday with Labor Party chairman Amram Mitzna, and the two leaders are scheduled to hold a second round of talks late Saturday.
• U-N-H-C-R / CHAD VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- A team of aid workers from the United Nations refugee agency is in Chad investigating a refugee crisis. The workers say thousands of people from the neighboring Central African Republic have come to Chad in recent weeks to escape fighting.
• AUSTRIA/POLITICS VOA 21 Feb 2003 -- Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel is starting negotiations with the far-right Freedom Party, the F-P-O, to form a new government. Mr. Schussel's Christian Democrats are taking a major risk in seeking a renewed alliance with the F-P-O, dominated by populist Joerg Haider.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 21 Feb 2003 -- This week marked the 63rd birthday of Turkmen President, Sapamurat Niyazov. The autocratic leader and president for life - known as Turkmenbashi the Great, or Father of all Turkmen - was hailed as a prophet on Wednesday by his admirers: this despite growing international criticism of his hardline approach on political opposition and human rights following an alleged assassination attempt in November.