UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Military


22 May 2003 Military News

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

Defense Policy / Programs

  • Transcript: Briefing on Military Commissions 22 May 2003 -- Also participating: Marine Lieutenant Colonel William Lietzau, Outgoing Acting Chief Prosecutor; Air Force Colonel Will A. Gunn, Acting Chief Defense Counsel; and Air Force Major John Smith, Spokesman, Military Commissions Judge Advocate

  • U-S "HAWKS" VS. "DOVES" CONFLICT VOA 22 May 2003 -- The foreign press is beginning to notice a division in United States policy between the so-called "hawks" in the Pentagon and elsewhere, and the "doves" at the State Department. It is a foreign policy split that is increasingly being debated in the American press as well.

  • STATEMENT FROM SECRETARY DONALD H. RUMSFELD 22 May 2003 -- General Franks has advised me of his desire to step down as the commander of the U.S. Central Command in the weeks immediately ahead and his intention to retire from active duty later this summer.
  • CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE ANNUAL REPORT RELEASED 22 May 2003 -- The Department of Defense announced today that it has released and published its annual report on chemical and biological defense capabilities
  • HOUSE APPROVES NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT House Armed Services Committe 22 May 2003 -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1588, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, on a bipartisan 361 to 68 vote. The legislation authorizes $400.5 billion in budget authority, matching the President's request, for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the national security programs of the Department of Energy (DOE).
  • PENTAGON/FRANKS UPDATE VOA 22 May 2003 -- Army four-star General Tommy Franks, the commander of U-S forces in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has decided to retire.
  • TRANSCRIPT OF FUTURE COMBAT SYSTEMS ROUNDTABLE Army Release 22 May 2003-- Maj. Gen. Gottardi: First of all, for those of you who don't know me I'm Major General Larry Gottardi, Chief of Public Affairs for the Army. I'd like to welcome you to the Media Roundtable for the FCS Milestone B decision.
  • SBCT certification about more than vehicle capabilities Army News Service 22 May 2003-- While the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team undergoes Initial Operational Capability testing at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 15-27, evaluators are examining more than just what the new armored vehicle can do, officials told visiting media May 21.
  • National Guard transforming to `modern minutemen' Army News Service 22 May 2003-- National Guard leaders from the 54 states and U.S. territories supported the chief of the National Guard Bureau's initiative for transforming their organization into a force of "modern Minutemen that is more responsive for the American people" while meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on May 18.
  • Two traps on TR; CAG Eight Hits 1000, CO Lands His Last Navy Newsstand 22 May 2003-- Commander, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) Eight, Capt. David Newland, completed his 1,000th carrier arrested landing aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) May 19 in a Fighter Squadron 213 "Blacklions" F-14D Tomcat.
  • USS Peleliu Trains For Non-Combatant Rescues Navy Newsstand 22 May 2003-- Sailors and Marines aboard amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) train incessantly to ensure they can respond quickly and ably to any one of the ship's multiple mission requirements.
  • USS Bataan Participates in Operation Thin Mint Navy Newsstand 22 May 2003-- Sailors and Marines aboard USS Bataan (LHD 5) happily participated in Operation Thin Mint May 20 by each receiving their own box of Girl Scout Cookies.
  • Coalition Chat Room Debuts at Combined Endeavor 2003 Navy Newsstand 22 May 2003-- Imagine the ability to have instantaneous translations during the height of a crisis response operation with coalition partners while at sea? Or you're standing night watch, working side-by-side with Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations with limited English skills. How do you ensure your message is clearly understood?
  • NAVAIR delivers SH-60B to Spain NAVAIR Release 22 May 2003-- NAVAIR's Multi-Mission Helicopter Program Office (PMA-299) recently delivered the last of six SH-60B helicopters ordered by the Spanish Navy.
  • Submarine USS COLUMBUS Launches Tomahawks in West Coast Tests NAVAIR Release 22 May 2003-- Two successful test launches of U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles were conducted this week from the USS COLUMBUS (SSN 762), a LOS ANGELES-Class attack submarine underway in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern Calif.
  • History in the Making - Marine Wing Support Squadron to deploy with 22d MEU Marine Corps News 22 May 2003-- In a unique allocation of forces within the II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 (MWSS-274) from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point was recently redesignated as MEU Service Support Group 22 (MSSG-22).
  • Hill prepares F-16s for Italian air force AFPN 22 May 2003-- Italian defense officials accepted the first of 34 modified and refurbished F-16 Fighting Falcon A and B models from experts here May 16.
  • 319th ARW tanker refuels Fargo F-16s during historic flight Air Mobility Command 22 May 2003-- Tagged with the flight name "Raid 31," the KC-135R Stratotanker aircrew didn't know at the time of their flight May 13 that refueling F-16s from the North Dakota Air National Guard's 119th Fighter Wing was actually history in the making.
  • CONGRESS DEFENSE VOA 22 May 2003 -- The U-S Senate and House of Representatives have each passed their own versions of a 400 billion dollar defense spending bill that would develop new weapons, increase funding for homeland security and benefits for American troops.
  • Byliner: New Threats Require New Flexibility for Pentagon, Rumsfeld Washington File 22 May 2003 -- This column by Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, was first published May 22 in the Washington Post.
  • PENTAGON/FRANKS VOA 22 May 2003 -- Army four-star General Tommy Franks, the commander of U-S forces in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has decided to retire.
  • Rumsfeld Asks for Personnel, Environmental Flexibility AFPS 22 May 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has appealed to legislators to pass his recommendations to streamline personnel and environmental policies in the department.
  • DOD MOVES TO STREAMLINE PROGRAMMING AND BUDGETING PROCESS 22 May 2003 -- Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Dov S. Zakheim today announced changes that will streamline the department's planning, programming, and budgeting system. This improved Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process is expected to revolutionalize internal DoD budget efforts, increase effectiveness and add additional emphasis to execution.
  • 1,000th Trap for Enterprise Underway Navy Newsstand 22 May 2003-- Most aircraft carriers usually achieve their 1,000th arrested landing a few weeks after starting an overseas deployment. USS Enterprise (CVN 65) achieved this milestone nine days after completing sea trials.

  • Lessons from Bosnia VOA 22 May 2003 -- As the United States embarks on nation-building in Iraq, many are looking for possible lessons from the West's nation-building missions in the Balkans. One of the most important is that security comes first: establishing rule of law, controlling extremists, confronting organized crime and bringing criminals to justice.

  • EU: Military Ambitions Still Muddled RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- Four European Union countries have launched a new joint defense initiative that foresees a command structure independent of NATO. The four nations are Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg -- all of which opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The initiative has ruffled the feathers of the United States, which says it could weaken the tried-and-tested trans-Atlantic alliance. But it's not yet clear whether the new move represents an important new development, or whether it will just add to the already confused picture of EU defense efforts

  • ISRAEL-INDIA VOA 22 May 2003 -- Israeli officials say the United States has dropped its opposition to Israel selling advanced spy planes to India.

Defense Industry

  • EADS PZL’s first delivery of wing for EADS CASA C-295 aircraft EADS 22 May 2003 -- In summer 2001, the Polish Government and EADS CASA signed a contract for the acquisition of (8) eight EADS CASA C-295 military transport aircraft.
  • Lockheed Martin Signs Final Contract for 10 F-16s to Chile Lockheed Martin 22 May 2003 -- Lockheed Martin [LMT: NYSE] has received a finalized contract from the U.S. Air Force valued at approximately $320 million to build 10 F-16s for the Chilean Air Force under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. A letter contract valued at approximately $40 million was awarded in March 2002, and preliminary work began at that time.
  • ThalesRaytheonSystems receives $22.3 million for U.S. Air Force Battle Control System Thales 22 May 2003 -- ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) Company has been awarded a $22.3 million dollar firm-fixed price contract to provide the Battle Control System (BCS) -Fixed, Spiral 1 for the United States Air Force. The BCS program will provide the replacement system for the current Regional Air Operations Center/Air Defense Sector (RAOC-ADS) delivered in 1984 by Hughes Command and Control Systems, Fullerton, Calif., which is now ThalesRaytheonSystems Company, LLC.

Other Conflicts

  • DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 22 May 2003

  • POWELL / MIDEAST VOA 22 May 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell Thursday promised continued U-S engagement in trying to implement the "road map" to an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Senior Israeli and Palestinian envoys met top administration officials in Washington this week, and there are reports that President Bush may soon engage in some personal Middle East diplomacy.
  • ISRAEL-LEBANON-BOAT VOA 22 May 2003 -- Israeli military officials say naval commandos have intercepted a boat from Lebanon loaded with weapons bound for Palestinian Authority areas.
  • ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS VOA 22 May 2003 -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has met with officials of the militant Islamic group Hamas for the first time since taking up his new position. News of the meeting came amid calls by Israel for Mr. Abbas to crack down on Palestinian militants, following a new wave of suicide bombings.
  • EDITORIAL: SUICIDE ATTACKS ON ISRAELIS VOA 22 May 2003 -- In a forty-eight-hour period beginning May 17th, suicide terrorists struck Israelis five times. The terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, including a suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus that killed seven people and wounded about twenty. Two groups, Palestine Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a shopping mall in Afula that killed three people and wounded about seventy.

  • Fighting reported in new area of Ituri region in DR of Congo - UN UN News Centre 22 May 2003 -- As the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to work out a plan with militia leaders to confine their combatants in the Ituri region, fighting has been reported in the northern part of that district in the area of Aru.
  • DRC: Ituri's Greek Cypriot community finally flees IRIN 22 May 2003 -- Fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has escalated so much recently that members of the region's oldest expatriate community have fled into neighbouring Uganda.
  • DRC: Bunia still "tense", UN says IRIN 22 May 2003 -- The town of Bunia, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remains "tense" amidst concern for the safety of internally displaced people in camps, the UN said on Wednesday.
  • DRC: Death toll from Bunia fighting rises IRIN 22 May 2003 -- A grave containing at least 30 bodies has been found in Bunia, the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, told IRIN on Thursday. The discovery takes to just over 300 the number of people killed in recent ethnic fighting in the town.
  • DRC: RCD-Goma says government blocking progress on transition talks IRIN 22 May 2003 -- The rebel group Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD- GOMA) told IRIN on Thursday that it was temporarily withdrwing its delegation from talks in Kinshasa on the formation of a transitional government and institutions, claiming the government was blocking progress on one key issue.

  • IVORY COAST RECONCILIATION VOA 22 May 2003 -- The reconciliation government in Ivory Coast has met for the first time in a northern rebel-held zone while pushing forward with a difficult power-sharing peace process.
  • COTE D'IVOIRE: Cabinet meets in rebel city as train service resumes IRIN 22 May 2003 -- Cote d'Ivoire's government of national reconciliation held a ground-breaking cabinet meeting in the rebel-held city of Bouake on Thursday as the first freight train for eight months left Abidjan carrying cement and fertilizer to the rebel-held north of the country.

  • Text: USAID Helps Former Guerilla Fighters Rejoin Philippine Society Washington File 22 May 2003 -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a Memorandum of Intent with the Philippines to continue a program that helps former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) soldiers reintegrate into local communities.
  • SUDAN TALKS VOA 22 May 2003 -- The mediator in talks aimed at ending two decades of civil war in Sudan says he is drawing up a final peace agreement to present to the two sides next week. One of the thorniest issues is what to do with the two rival armies.
  • Russia: Critics Say Offer Of Chechen Amnesty Is Meaningless RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- Russia's State Duma has given initial approval to a bill granting amnesty to certain categories of people involved in the Chechen war. The Kremlin says the amnesty -- the fourth of its kind to date -- is a step toward peace. But some Russian rights groups say it is meaningless and that most Chechen rebels will still be open to prosecution. The amnesty, they say, could instead benefit Russian soldiers accused of committing atrocities and local politicians involved in war profiteering.
  • PHILIPPINES REBEL SURRENDER VOA 22 May 2003 -- Philippine officials say more than 90 Muslim rebels have surrendered, and at least 100 have died during the military's latest offensive. But a rebel spokesman denies the report.
  • ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Talks could help, UN says IRIN 22 May 2003 -- The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said on Thursday that talks between the two countries could be "beneficial" for the peace process.
  • SOMALIA: Aydid says he will destroy 3,000 mines IRIN 22 May 2003 -- Three thousand landmines will be destroyed in the next four to six months, Somali faction leader Husayn Aydid told IRIN on Thursday.
  • CONGO: Mediate in Congo conflict, NGO urges UN IRIN 22 May 2003 -- NGO Refugees International (RI) says it has asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to engage a "senior diplomat" to mediate in the Republic of Congo which has been wracked by decades of ethnic conflict.
  • LIBERIA: Start of peace talks delayed, venue shifted IRIN 22 May 2003 -- The start of peace talks between the Liberian government and rebels has been delayed by two days and the venue has been shifted from the Ghanaian capital Accra to Akosombo, a town 96 km to the northeast, Ghana's ambassador to Liberia said on Thursday.

News Reports

  • SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 22 May 2003
  • SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 22 May 2003

  • U.S.: Trans-Atlantic Ties Under Scrutiny As Powell Flies To Paris RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- With U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell set for meetings in Paris today and tomorrow, America's relations with France and Germany appear to be improving after the fallout over Iraq. But potential divisions remain in the trans-Atlantic relationship

  • Transcript: Bush Outlines Domestic and Foreign Policy Agenda Washington File 22 May 2003 -- President Bush, having recently initiated the formal process for a 2004 re-election campaign, gave the audience at the 2003 Annual President's Dinner in Washington May 21 a recap of the issues on his domestic and foreign policy agendas.

  • EAST AFRICA / SARS VOA 22 May 2003 -- Ethiopia has told its citizens to cancel all non-essential travel to Asian countries suffering from SARS. It is just one measure several east African countries have taken in recent weeks in an effort to prevent the deadly virus from gaining a foothold in the region.
  • WHO/SARS FUND VOA 22 May 2003 -- The World Health Organization, W-H-O, says it is starting a special fund to combat SARS, primarily in mainland China and Hong Kong. The W-H-O says it is planning to raise 100 million dollars from the business community.
  • TAIWAN/SARS VOA 22 May 2003 -- The number of new SARS patients in Taiwan has surged, and the World Health Organization says the new cases, many among health care workers, show that hospitals are not preventing the transmission of the disease.

  • BUSH / ALGERIA QUAKE VOA 22 May 2003 -- President Bush has sent his condolences to the Algerian people, following Wednesday's massive earthquake. Algeria's interior minister says more than one-thousand people were killed.
  • ALGERIA / QUAKE RELIEF VOA 22 May 2003 -- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says hundreds of Algerian Red Crescent workers and volunteers responded rapidly to the earthquake late Wednesday that killed more than 600 people. Officials say more than four-thousand people injured during the worst quake to hit Algeria in 23 years.
  • ALGERIA/QUAKE UPDATE VOA 22 May 2003 -- Rescue teams say they are working against time to find survivors trapped under mounds of rubble by a powerful earthquake that struck northern Algeria late Wednesday. They say the quake has killed more than 640 people and has injured nearly five-thousand, mainly in areas east of Algiers.

  • PERU / RIO GROUP MEETING VOA 22 May 2003 -- Presidents of the 19-nation Rio Group arrived in Peru's Cuzco for their annual summit amid a nationwide teachers' strike, highlighting one of the pressing topics of discussion, how to govern with huge populations mired in hard-core poverty and clamoring for a better life.
  • MEXICO/BORDER KILLINGS VOA 22 May 2003 -- Mexico's Attorney General, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, says important steps are being taken to solve the more than 300 murder cases involving young women whose bodies have been found in ravines and garbage dumps around the border city of Ciudad Juarez over the last decade. As the Attorney General also defended a federal probe into possible organ trafficking as a motive for the murders.
  • G-8 SUMMIT / PREVIEW VOA 22 May 2003 -- On June 1st the annual summit of the world's leading industrialized nations will begin in the French Alpine resort of Evian. Some analysts say the meeting of world leaders will be an opportunity for President Bush to repair relations with major European countries that opposed the U-S war against Iraq. Others argue, however, that trans-Atlantic relations are so seriously strained that they may have changed forever.
  • BUSH / G-8 VOA 22 May 2003 -- President Bush and French President Jacques Chirac have had a rare telephone conversation -- their second since the start of the war in Iraq. This time the topic was the agenda for the upcoming G-8 summit in the French alps.
  • ZIMBABWE / POLITICS VOA 22 May 2003 -- Organized political violence in Zimbabwe rose dramatically last month, according to a report from human-rights monitors.
  • INDONESIA TIMOR TRIAL VOA 22 May 2003 -- An Indonesian court has acquitted a senior military officer of crimes against humanity in East Timor. The verdict is likely to upset human rights groups, which have long charged that the tribunal has failed to carry out justice.
  • TOGO ELECTIONS VOA 22 May 2003 -- Togo's long-time President Gnassingbe Eyadema has promised peace, prosperity and reconciliation during his first campaign rally before next month's elections. But opposition leaders say that will be difficult because, they charge, the election itself is already fatally flawed.
  • ERITREA: Special Report on 12 years of independence IRIN 22 May 2003 -- On the eve of its 12th independence anniversary – and its 10th year of formal independence - Eritrea is confronted with difficult choices. President Isayas Afewerki, under fire for an increasingly autocratic rule, faces the difficult task of moving his country out of an apparent impasse.
  • NIGERIA: Obasanjo dissolves government, plans leaner cabinet IRIN 22 May 2003 -- Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo is expected to drop a majority of his ministers and appoint a leaner and meaner team as he forms a new government for his second term in office, officials said on Thursday.



NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list