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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• CJTF-HOA adds new system to its arsenal Marine Corps News 29 May 2003-- Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa recently added an Air Defense Integrated System (ADSI) to its arsenal, enhancing their ability to fight terrorism in the east African region.

• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 2, Number 18 29 May 2003 -- AFGHANISTAN: THE LAND OF PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM / AFGHAN TEST GROUP SHOWS HIGH URANIUM LEVELS / NORTHERN WARLORD VOWS HE WILL NOT BE DISARMED BY RIVAL / WARRING COMMANDERS FROM MAZAR-E SHARIF TO BE TRIED / GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES TO BE PAID THROUGH MONEYCHANGERS / UN ASSISTS AFGHANISTAN WITH CENSUS / LOCAL TALIBAN COMMANDER KILLED IN CLASH / INSECURITY LEADS UN TO HALT MINE-CLEARING OPERATIONS IN PROVINCES / FEWER AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNING DUE TO LACK OF SECURITY / HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CONDEMNS DEATHS OF AFGHAN SOLDIERS / NEW COMMANDER FOR U.S.-LED FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN / GERMANY EXPANDS MILITARY PRESENCE IN AFGHANISTAN... / ...AND FRANCE CONSIDERS SENDING SPECIAL FORCES / PLANE CARRYING SPANISH ISAF PEACEKEEPERS CRASHES, KILLING 75 / CANADA TO TAKE COMMAND OF ISAF UNDER NATO / BRITAIN EXPECTED TO RELEASE AFGHAN HIJACKERS / AFGHAN ADMINISTRATION'S CHAIRMAN MEETS IRANIAN TRADE MINISTER / RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN ACCUSES TURKMENISTAN OF TIES TO FORMER TALIBAN REGIME / BRITAIN TO SUPPLY NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES TO IRAN / PAKISTANI MINISTER SAYS WORK ON TAP PROJECT WILL BEGIN IN 2004 / AFGHAN WOMEN STILL STRUGGLING FOR RIGHT TO EDUCATION, WORK / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY
• AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Interview with UNICEF's regional director IRIN 29 May 2003 -- With the world's focus shifting to reconstruction in Iraq, aid agencies in the South and Central Asian region fear renewed donor fatigue, which could have a negative impact on projects established in needy countries. In an interview with IRIN, The United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) Regional Director for South Asia, including Afghanistan, Sadig Rasheed, spelled out his agency's priorities, and said development work with children in the region would be severely affected unless donors responded more positively to urgent needs.
• UN again suspends mine clearance in parts of Afghanistan UN News Centre 29 May 2003 -- The United Nations has again suspended mine clearance along parts of one of Afghanistan's most important routes for commerce and relief aid after new attacks and threats to de-mining teams on the road between the capital, Kabul, and the southern city of Kandahar.

Defense Policy / Programs

• The debate over new nuclear weapons VOA 29 May 2003 -- Last week, as part of its debate on the 2004 defense budget, Congress freed the US Government to pursue research on new nuclear weapons. Opponents say the provocative move puts the United States on a path to develop and eventually use nuclear weapons again. Proponents of repealing the ban say America has no other choice if it wants to protect itself.

• Army partially lifts Stop-Loss order Army News Service 29 May 2003-- The Army has lifted "Stop Loss" for active-component units involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and for soldiers in about half of the specialties that had been required to stay on active duty.
• ARMY ANNOUNCES CHANGES IN STOP LOSS US Army Release 29 May 2003-- On May 27, 2003, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Reginald J. Brown approved the termination of "Stop Loss" for active component (AC) units, and the lifting of "Stop Loss" for selected officer specialties and enlisted specialties. The Stop Loss policy was initiated to allow the Army to retain soldiers, who are determined to be essential to the national security of the United States, on active duty beyond their date of retirement, separation, or release from active duty for an open-ended period.
• Visitors Impressed with USS Lake Erie Navy Newsstand 29 May 2003-- Acting Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Hansord T. Johnson, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle and Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Adm. Walter Doran visited Sailors aboard USS Lake Erie (CG 70) recently in its homeport of Hawaii.
• Constellation Carrier Strike Group Returns Home From Operation Iraqi Freedom Navy Newsstand 29 May 2003-- The USS Constellation (CV 64) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is scheduled to return to San Diego June 2, following a successful seven-month deployment in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Enduring Freedom and Southern Watch.
• USNS Comfort Stops in Rota in Return to Homeport Navy Newsstand 29 May 2003-- Hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) is returning home after nearly six months underway. The ship pulled into Rota's naval station May 26 to pick up supplies and fill their gas tank before the final leg home to Baltimore.
• Squadron steadily punished Iraq's war assets Marine Corps News 29 May 2003-- They were the first Camp Pendleton aircraft squadron sent home from the war - but not before leaving scores of enemy tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery pieces blackened and useless.
• Sentry crews finish mission, end era AFPN 29 May 2003-- As the big white bird gracefully touched down on the windblown runway at a forward-deployed location May 28, the mission of the 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia completed a 13-year, continuous mission.
• F-16 crashes in South Korea AFPN 29 May 2003-- An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed here May 29 while taking off on a training mission. The pilot ejected safely and was treated at the base hospital.

• Top Military Research Lab Part of Worldwide Search for SARS Cure AFPS 29 May 2003 -- The military has joined a worldwide effort to find a cure for the sometimes deadly SARS virus.

• Baltics: Tempest Over Minorities Erupts During NATO Assembly RFE/L 29 May 2003 -- Russian minority rights in the Baltic states are once again on the international agenda. That's thanks to the efforts of the Russians attending this week's meeting of NATO's parliamentary assembly in Prague. They presented a report accusing Latvia and Estonia of mistreating their Russian communities. The Baltic countries dismiss the allegations -- and they say Russia is artificially trying to keep the issue alive in a bid to derail ratification of NATO membership

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS To Produce Inertial Measurement Units For U.S. Navy Rolling Airframe Missile BAE Systems 29 May 2003 -- Raytheon Missile Systems has awarded BAE Systems a production start-up contract for silicon inertial measurement units that will be used on the U.S. Navy's Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM). BAE Systems Inertial Products in Plymouth, U.K., will produce SiIMU™ inertial measurement units using the company's Micro-machined Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology.
• Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract for Portable Radars Lockheed Martin 29 May 2003 -- Saab Systems Pty Ltd of Adelaide, Australia awarded a $9.5 million contract to Lockheed Martin to provide five Portable Search and Target Acquisition Radars (PSTAR). Saab Systems' customer, the Australian Army, will use the radars to provide short-range air defense and to complement the five PSTARs it already owns.
• Northrop Grumman's Seventh Bob Hope-Class Sealift Ship Departs for Sea Trials Northrop Grumman 29 May 2003 -- The seventh and final Bob Hope-class Strategic Sealift ship, Benavidez (T-AKR 306), built by Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Ship Systems sector, is underway in the Gulf of Mexico on predelivery sea trials.
• Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes Acceptance Trials on the Aircraft Carrier Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Northrop Grumman 29 May 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) announced today that the nation's newest and most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), has successfully completed acceptance sea trials. The Reagan is the ninth Nimitz-class carrier built by Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector.
• Atlas V Team Begins Launch Preparations for AV-003 Lockheed Martin 29 May 2003 -- Lockheed Martin's Atlas team has begun preparing the next Atlas V rocket for its scheduled launch of the Rainbow satellite in July. AV-003 is distinguished visually by a 5-meter diameter payload fairing, which encloses the satellite, and two Aerojet strap-on solid rocket boosters (SRBs) to augment liftoff thrust and vehicle performance.

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 29 May 2003
• UN / PEACEKEEPERS VOA 29 May 2003 -- The United Nations today (Thursday) honored international peacekeepers, many of who have died in the line of duty. The U-N's first Day of International Peacekeepers comes as the Security Council considers sending a multinational force to the Democratic Republic of Congo
• REFUGEE SURVEY VOA 29 May 2003 -- In its annual survey, the U-S Committee for Refugees lists more than 13-million people as refugees and asylum seekers and nearly 22-million as internally displaced persons. The report says conflict and human-rights abuses last year added more than four-million people to that total. The report's authors criticized the U-S and other governments for increasingly restricted access for refugees, leaving many in limbo for years.

• Bush to Press for "Measurable, Concrete Action" on Mideast Peace Washington File 29 May 2003 -- The purpose of President Bush's planned June 4 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is to "take advantage of this moment" and "play a very helpful role in bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, to help them take concrete steps to implement the roadmap toward peace," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters May 29.
• ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS SUMMIT VOA 29 May 2003 -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem Thursday evening and both sides are describing the talks as "positive." The two leaders agreed on some initial steps to ease tensions as they lay the groundwork for their discussions next week with President Bush.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 29 May 2003 -- The Israeli and Palestinian Prime Ministers began talks Thursday, as part of preparations for a summit in Jordan next week with President Bush.
• BUSH / MIDEAST OVERNIGHT VOA 29 May 2003 -- President Bush heads to Europe Friday where he will take part in meetings of the G-8 economic summit before meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jordan.
• MORE "ROAD MAP" REACTION VOA 29 May 2003 -- U-S newspapers continue to focus on what appears to be the first significant movement in months, maybe years, toward peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Almost every paper includes caution in its analysis, due to previous failures, but several conclude that the fall of Saddam Hussein's Iraq has changed the playing field dramatically.
• ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN SUMMIT VOA 29 May 2003 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas are scheduled to meet latter in the day for their second summit in less than two weeks. The location of the talks was not immediately announced for security reasons. While their first meeting yielded no tangible results, both leaders are under pressure to do better this time around.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 29 May 2003 -- In its annual report issued this week, the human-rights group Amnesty International condemns abuses by Israel and by Palestinian militants.
• MIDEAST SUMMIT PREPS VOA 29 May 2003 -- Two top U-S envoys to the Middle East are in Egypt to help prepare for a meeting next week between President Bush and Arab leaders.

• DR of Congo: UN keeps up efforts to revive peace talks over war-ravaged Bunia UN News Centre 29 May 2003 -- In the midst of the calm that has settled over the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations is pressing ahead with diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in and around the town of Bunia - trying to revive peace talks between rival ethnic factions and delivering basic services to desperate people forced from their homes by the fighting.
• U-S / CONGO FORCE VOA 29 May 2003 -- The United States has declared its support for a U-N draft resolution to dispatch a French-led emergency military force to the war-ravaged northeastern Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U-N Security Council is expected to approve the measure as early as Friday.
• DRC: Security Council expected to act "soon" to send emergency force to Bunia IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The UN Security Council is expected to take action "possibly as early as Friday" on a draft resolution to deploy an emergency force to Bunia, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN News reported on Wednesday.
• BURUNDI: President meets army chiefs to "harmonise vision" for future IRIN 29 May 2003 -- Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye on Tuesday held his first meeting with military commanding officers to discuss harmonisation in the running of the country during the second phase of the transition period, Radio Burundi reported.
• BURUNDI: More than 15,000 civilians flee fighting in west IRIN 29 May 2003 -- Between 15,000 and 20,000 civilians have fled continuing fighting that erupted last week between the army and rebels of the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) faction of Alain Mugabarabona in Kabezi Commune, about 20 km south of capital, Bujumbura, in western Burundi.
• UN: Georgian-Abkhaz Peace Process Focuses On Security In Border Region RFE/L 29 May 2003 -- A political settlement between Georgia and separatist Abkhazia remains far off. But officials involved in the latest UN efforts to advance the peace process say a project to return internally displaced Georgians to the province could be crucial to reviving peace talks. The UN mission in Georgia has completed a study of security needs in the Gali region and there is expected to be growing pressure on the two sides to reach a deal. But progress is likely to be slow, in part due to political divisions among Abkhaz leaders.
• Annan welcomes regional leaders' declaration on Colombia UN News Centre 29 May 2003 -- Reacting to a call by regional leaders for a peaceful end to the decades-long conflict in Colombia, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed their support for his continuing involvement in bringing about a negotiated settlement.
• UGANDA: Kibaale calm after violent land clashes IRIN 29 May 2003 -- Western Uganda’s Kibaale district is reported to be calm again following fierce ethnic clashes over land which resulted in the murder of three civilians, including two children who were beheaded with hunting knives.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC-CHAD: Refugees hit by malnutrition, NGO pleads for UN intervention IRIN 29 May 2003 -- International NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Wednesday that signs of malnutrition had been observed among an estimated 41,000 refugees from Central African Republic (CAR) who have fled to Chad since November 2002.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: France pledges to continue supporting CEMAC peacekeeping force IRIN 29 May 2003 -- France will continue to support the peacekeeping force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) in the Central African Republic (CAR) until the end of the transition period in the country, a French military official told government-controlled Radio Centrafrique on Wednesday.
• WEST AFRICA: ECOWAS to set up rapid response military force IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) security committee has decided to create a rapid response military force to tackle conflicts in the region. It also agreed to send more peacekeeping troops to crisis-torn Cote d'Ivoire, a communique said.
• LIBERIA: Adults amputated, more children forced to fight - churches say IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The increasing numbers of armed groups in Liberia are forcing more children aged 12-18 to join them and amputating limbs of men, women and children who they suspect to be opposed to their activities, the Church World Service (CWS) reported on Wednesday.
• GUINEA: Government, UNHCR agree to close Sembakounya camp IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have agreed to close Sembakounya camp in Dabola, central Guinea by end of July and to voluntarily relocate the 3,810 refugees currently living there to the southern area of Kissidougou.
• SIERRA LEONE: Special Court indicts ninth person IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The Special Court for Sierra Leone on Thursday indicted Brima "Bazzy" Kamara, a former senior commander of both the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the West Side Boys making him the ninth person to be indicted by the Court.

News Reports

• PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDP ADMINISTRATOR United Nations 29 May 2003
• President Bush Set to Depart on Five-Day Overseas Trip AFPS 29 May 2003 -- President Bush will discuss the Middle East peace process and rebuilding Iraq, among other issues, during a five-day overseas trip set to begin May 30, a top adviser said May 28.
• ZIMBABWE / POLITICS VOA 29 May 2003 -- Zimbabwe's armed forces issued a warning Thursday about protests planned for next week against the government of President Robert Mugabe. The statement came as the country's opposition leader made his widely-expected call for what he hopes will be the largest peaceful demonstrations in the country's history.
• E-U CONSTITUTION VOA 29 May 2003 -- A convention on the future of Europe is rushing to finish a draft E-U constitution in time for the organization's expansion into Eastern Europe next year. But there are strong disagreements over how much power pan-European institutions should have compared to the individual member states.
• VENEZUELA / POL VOA 29 May 2003 -- Venezuela's government and political opposition have signed an agreement to produce an electoral solution to the country's 18-month political crisis. But many in the opposition have serious reservations with the effectiveness of the agreement that was mediated by international facilitators led by Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States
• NIGERIA / INAUGURATION VOA 29 May 2003 -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has been sworn in for a second four-year term, marking the first time Africa's most-populous country returns a civilian government to power.
• NIGERIA / OBASANJO VOA 29 May 2003 -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo faces many challenges as he begins his second term as president of Africa's most populous nation. Mr. Obasanjo says he intends to get Nigeria on the road to prosperity and stability.
• ASIA SARS VOA 29 May 2003 -- Taiwan is reporting 50 new cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome cases, but the government says the new infections are a result of reclassification and not a fresh outbreak.
• NIGERIA / INAUGURATION VOA 29 May 2003 -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has been sworn in for a second four-year term amid allegations of vote-rigging in last month's election.
• DRC: Swearing-in of transitional government delayed IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The swearing in of a transitional government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been postponed because of an argument over the composition of the national army, the government said on Wednesday.
• NIGERIA: Olusegun Obasanjo sworn in for second term IRIN 29 May 2003 -- Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo was on Thursday sworn in to remain at the helm of Africa's most populous country for another four years, following his controversial electoral victory disputed by the opposition.
• ZIMBABWE: Army warns it will crackdown on unrest IRIN 29 May 2003 -- The Zimbabwe Defence Force (ZDF) has warned the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that it will not be "an idle observer" during next week's protests planned by the MDC.
• Northrop Grumman Chosen as JPL's Industrial Partner for Eclipse Northrop Grumman 29 May 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been selected to be the industry partner for the Eclipse mission by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Dr. John Trauger, the Eclipse Principal Investigator.
• Sea Launch Sails to Equator for the Launch of Thuraya-2 Boeing 29 May 2003 -- The Odyssey Launch Platform and the Sea Launch Commander departed Sea Launch Home Port this week, for the launch of the Thuraya-2 satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for June 10, in a 44-minute launch window that opens at 6:56 am PDT (13:56:00 GMT).