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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• AFGHANISTAN ATTACK VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- Suspected remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaida launched more than a dozen rockets at coalition forces in Afghanistan Tuesday night. As V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports from Kabul, U-S military authorities say more rocket attacks on U-S troops could be tied to the war in Iraq.
• AFGHANISTAN: Special report on poppy cultivation in Badakhshan IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- Standing on his farm holding a shovel and shouldering a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Khak Nasrullah gazes over his sprouting crop of poppies on his land, wondering how he will spend the US $24,000 he is set to earn from the 60 kg of opium he hopes to harvest this season.

Defense Policy / Programs

• White House Press Gaggle White House 26 Mar 2003
• Transcript: Briefing On Casualty Notification 26 Mar 2003 -- "This is a summary of the principles of our policy. The policy for casualty notification focuses on the families. Families are our number-one concern -- the families that are left behind. We want to make sure that we give an accurate accounting of the death to the family members, and so we don't deal in rumors, we deal in the facts as we know them, and we are as honest with the family members as we possibly can be. "
• CONGRESS / BUDGET VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- The U-S Senate Wednesday approved (by a 56 to 44 vote) President Bush's two-point-two trillion dollar budget plan for next year, but with only half the tax cut package he proposed.
• State Department Expediting Export Licenses for Iraq Coalition Partners Washington File 26 Mar 2003 -- The State Department issued an announcement on March 26 stating that special processing procedures for the export of military equipment to partners in Operation Iraqi Freedom are being instituted. The goal of these special procedures is to process license applications "in no more than 48 hours."
• National Guard's WMD Response Teams Gain New Capabilities AFPS 26 Mar 2003 -- The National Guard Bureau's 32 Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams have gained new capabilities since last summer, an expert on the teams' capabilities explained today.
• Comforting Survivors: Priority One for Casualty Assistance Officers AFPS 26 Mar 2003 -- The military's casualty assistance officers do their best to comfort and assist the next-of-kin of service members who've been wounded, killed or missing in action.
• Squadron reaches goal, gains a day ACCNS 26 Mar 2003 -- Anybody who's seen the movie "My Cousin Vinny" may think a UTE (pronounced yoot) is a young person from Brooklyn, but for combat flying units, it stands for utilization rates.
• Pilots say training prepared them for combat AFPN 26 Mar 2003 -- Pilots flying combat missions over Iraq in recent days are saying that the real-world operations there are validating their years of training.
• Leaders outline academy overhaul AFPN 26 Mar 2003 -- Four U.S. Air Force Academy leaders will be replaced as part of sweeping changes designed to ensure a safe and secure environment for the school's cadets, officials announced at a Pentagon press briefing March 26.
• USS Essex wraps up combined exercise with S. Koreans Seventh Fleet 26 Mar 2003 -- Twelve Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy personnel were aboard the amphibious assault ship, USS Essex (LHD 2) March 19 in support of the international joint-combined exercise, Foal Eagle.
• Current anti-war protests slated throughout USAFE USAFENS 26 Mar 2003 -- With the U.S. military engaged in combat operations with Operation Iraqi Freedom, anti-war protests are occurring throughout Europe and the world.
• KC-10s, America's silent ambassadors in Bulgaria USAFENS 26 Mar 2003 -- As midnight approaches, the fog rolls off the Black Sea blanketing the endless barren fields surrounding the international airport here. Just a few thousand yards to the west, six proud beacons cut through the cold, dense air as if to say, "look at me." Standing taller and more illuminated than any buildings nearby, the six giants demand attention
• Guard Flexes Muscle in the War Against Terrorism AFPS 26 Mar 2003 -- More than 141,000 members of the Army and Air National Guard were mobilized, placed on alert or identified for possible mobilization by March 24, five days after Operation Iraqi Freedom began, National Guard Bureau officials have reported.
• Press and Military Seem to Appreciate Media Embeds AFPS 26 Mar 2003 -- For the past week, the world has had unprecedented access to the combat zone in Iraq.
• Pegasus maintains operability USMC News 26 Mar 2003 -- For crewmembers and mechanics of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, the penalty of not performing their job to the best of their ability could result in putting the lives of others at risk.
• GAS! GAS! GAS! Sailors hone decontamination skills in NBC exercise USMC News 26 Mar 2003 -- Sailors of Kinser Group Aid Station, Headquarters and Service Battalion, 3rd Force Service Support Group, went through their annual Nuclear Biological Chemical field casualty exercise recently.
• Non-lethal weapons manage crowds - Marines train for riot control USMC News 26 Mar 2003 -- Protesters engulf the streets, venting their anger and famine, screaming while holding their picket signs, "We want cheese! We're starving!"

• Bush Sends Report on NATO Enlargement to Congress Washington File 26 Mar 2003 -- Following is the text of a March 26 letter to the chairmen of several House and Senate committees that accompanied President Bush's updated report to Congress on NATO membership for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia

Defense Industry

• Boeing/DARPA Demonstrate UCAV Interoperability with Manned Aircraft Boeing 26 Mar 2003 -- In a new block of demonstrations in the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) program, Boeing [NYSE: BA] and DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) have successfully demonstrated that an autonomous unmanned aircraft controlled from the ground could be successfully integrated into air-traffic-controlled airspace with manned aircraft.
• Maiden flight of the production HAP Tiger EADS 26 Mar 2003 -- One of the most important European helicopter programs - the Franco-German Tiger combat helicopter - has just successfully achieved another decisive milestone. The first production HAP Tiger due to be delivered to the French Army Air Corps (ALAT) took off from Marignane on 26 March 2003.
• Northrop Grumman Wins U.S. Army CECOM Rapid Response Contract Northrop Grumman 26 Mar 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and seven additional contractors have been awarded an eight-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract by the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) for the CECOM Rapid Response (CR2) program. The overall ceiling of this ID/IQ contract is more than $2.7 billion.
• Oshkosh Truck Advised FMTV Contract Announcement Delayed Oshkosh 26 Mar 2003 -- Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NYSE: OSK] has been advised by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive and Armaments Command today that the award announcement on the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) A1 Competitive Rebuy program has been delayed for several weeks. The announcement had been expected in late March.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 26 Mar 2003
• Burns Asks Senate for $200 Million for Middle East Partnership Initiative Washington File 26 Mar 2003 -- The State Department has requested $200 million from the U.S. Congress to fund the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) during fiscal year 2003, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS ROADMAP VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- When British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets with President Bush Wednesday and Thursday, one issue expected to figure prominently in their talks is the future of the Middle East after the war in Iraq is over. Prime Minister Blair has made it increasingly clear that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is very important if there is to be any hope of stabilizing the region

• Côte d'Ivoire: UNICEF finds children living in 'near catastrophic conditions' UN News Centre 26 Mar 2003 -- Expressing deep concern over the worsening impact of conflict on children in Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today said it found "near catastrophic conditions prevailing" in the northeastern part of the country.
• IVORY COAST / GOVERNMENT VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- Government sources in Ivory Coast say President Laurent Gbagbo has signed a decree naming interim defense and interior ministers in a new unity government. The move is seen as another step toward ending a rebel war in the West African country.
• COTE D'IVOIRE: Situation of children in the northeastern worries UNICEF IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- UNICEF has expressed distress at the situation of children in northeastern Cote d'Ivoire, following a recent mission which showed that the area's children had paid a heavy toll in health and education as a result of the Ivorian conflict.
• UGANDA: Rebels kill government peace envoy IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) reportedly killed a government peace envoy on Monday, dampening hopes for a peaceful end to the 17-year insurgency in northern Uganda.
• DRC-UGANDA: Some 400 rebels in northeast surrender to Ugandan army IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- The Ugandan army has said that between 401 and 425 fighters of Thomas Lubanga’s rebel Union des patriotes congolais (UPC), which it expelled from Bunia on 6 March, have surrendered because they want to participate in the peace process.
• NIGERIA / UNREST VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- Leaders of an ethnic uprising in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger River delta say they have stopped fighting government forces, ending a two-week siege that caused a nearly 40-percent drop in oil production in the West African country.
• NIGERIA: Army deploys more troops to protect Delta oil installations IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- Nigeria's military authorities said on Tuesday they were deploying more troops to quell two weeks of ethnic unrest in the Niger Delta that cut the country's oil output by more than 40 percent.
• PHILIPPINES REBELS TALKS VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- Philippine government negotiators are meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, with representatives of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front - the M-I-L-F.
• RWANDA: ICTR hopes to mobilise international support through Swiss exhibition IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is holding an exhibition in the United Nations offices in Geneva on the theme of "challenging impunity".
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: 284 Congolese refugees demand repatriation IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- Some 284 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), camped on the grounds of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangui are demanding that they be repatriated, the agency’s representative in the Central African Republic (CAR) told IRIN on Tuesday.
• LIBERIA: IDPs panic as fighting nears capital IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- Fighting between Liberian government troops and rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) group was reported on Tuesday at Kley junction, 35 km from the capital, Monrovia, as the rebels moved closer to the capital.
• WESTERN SAHARA: Two months extension for MINURSO IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council has decided that the UN mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, will remain in the northwestern African territory for another two months following a unanimous decision on Tuesday to extend the mission's mandate to 31 May, the Council said in New York.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 26 Mar 2003
• SHAPE News Summary Analysis SHAPE 26 Mar 2003
• EU/TURKEY VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- The European Commission has proposed a large increase in aid to Turkey over the next three years, but says Ankara's effort to join the Europe Union could be jeopardized if it intervenes in Iraq or slows its political reforms.
• CHINA / ASIAN PNEUMONIA VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- The World Health Organization confirms that the global outbreak of a pneumonia-like disease from Hong Kong is the same illness that struck southern China in November.The number of Chinese people it has killed sharply boosts the international death toll.
• BURMA - PINHEIRO VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- The United Nations human rights envoy says Burma's government should move political reforms forward by releasing all political prisoners. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro expresses his growing frustration after discovering a listening device during his interviews with Burmese political prisoners.
• INTERPOL/FUJIMORI VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- The international police organization Interpol, has issued a worldwide notice for the arrest of Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori.
• BURMA VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- The discovery that a United Nations envoy's private interviews with Burmese political prisoners were being bugged could undermine efforts to promote political reform. Human rights groups are calling on the international community to pressure the military government to begin substantive dialogue with the opposition.
• ASIA PNEUMONIA VOA 26 Mar 2003 -- An outbreak of deadly pneumonia in Hong Kong is cutting into the city's already battered tourism industry. Fear of the disease, which has infected more than 11-hundred people worldwide, and killed at least 50, is prompting travelers to avoid Hong Kong.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with OSCE Chairman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer IRIN 26 Mar 2003 -- One of the more active international organisations working in Central Asia today is the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The largest regional security organisation in the world today, with 55 participating states from Europe, Central Asia and North America, the OSCE focuses on early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.