Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Added Forces Strengthen Horn of Africa Task Force AFPS 13 Jun 2003 -- Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa recently welcomed the three-ship USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and the guided missile frigate USS Gary in the Gulf of Aden.

• AFGHANISTAN: Highway security force to boost reconstruction work IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- Following a series of armed attacks on aid agencies and others along the Kabul-Kandahar highway, the Afghan government has announced that a 700-man security force will be deployed along the 540-km route to ensure the security of foreign companies working on the highway. This being Afghanistan's principal road, connecting the capital with the south and west of the country, its rehabilitation is seen as vital.

Defense Policy / Programs

• McGuire Starlifters fly 'Baghdad Express' TRANSCOM 13 Jun 2003 -- The 6th Airlift Squadron here may be the last active-duty squadron in the Air Force still flying C-141B Starlifters; however, the aircraft is far from being retired.
• PENTAGON / AFRICA VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- A senior defense official says there are no current plans to increase the U-S military presence in Africa by opening permanent or even semi-permanent bases. But the Pentagon is likely to seek expanded access to existing military facilities on the continent in case troop deployments are necessary in the future.
• Dragon Fury revisits Shahi Kot Mountains Army News Service 13 Jun 2003-- Coalition forces returned to the Shahi Kot mountain range June 2 for the first time since Operation Anaconda.
• USS Kearsarge Joins Operation Shining Express Navy Newsstand 13 Jun 2003-- USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) has been directed to join forces in support of Operation Shining Express, to aid in the potential evacuation of U.S. citizens from the country of Liberia. The ship's return date is currently undetermined.
• VBSS Exercise with Russian Destroyer Navy Newsstand 13 Jun 2003-- On a sea of choppy waters, Chief Electronic Warfare (SW) Tim Kardasz of Akron, Ohio, was the assistant boating officer aboard a rigid-hull inflatable boat that took a team to board the Russian destroyer RFS Nastochivyy (DDG 610). What was once almost unthinkable, is now an exciting training evolution during Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2003.
• USS Saipan Pulls Into Rota After 148 days at Sea Navy Newsstand 13 Jun 2003-- After 148 days at sea without a port visit, USS Saipan (LHA 2) pulled into port here for the long-awaited 'liberty call.' Saipan stopped for some well-deserved liberty and to take on supplies before continuing their voyage home to Norfolk, Va.
• Base welcomes first commercial aircraft AFPN 13 Jun 2003-- At 9:55 a.m. June 12, a small turbo-prop aircraft made history here as it became the first commercial cargo plane to land at the southern Iraqi base.
• Team assessing OIF air component effectiveness AFPN 13 Jun 2003-- A team of nearly 100 experts in a variety of fields began traveling in Iraq on June 8 to visit up to 500 impact points targeted by coalition air component forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• Second F-16 crashes in Arizona this week AFPN 13 Jun 2003-- An F-16 Fighting Falcon based here crashed June 13 at about 9:30 a.m. on the Barry M. Goldwater Range about five miles south of Gila Bend.

• U.S.: However Impolitic, Rumsfeld's Remarks May Reflect NATO Readjustment RFE/L 13 Jun 2003 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stoked divisions in NATO anew yesterday. He said Washington may have to stop funding the construction of new NATO headquarters in Brussels and stop sending U.S. officials and soldiers to Belgium unless the country changes its controversial war crimes legislation. Belgium today replied that there is no need to alter the law since it has already been adequately amended. At a time when the alliance has been trying to repair divisions caused by the Iraq war, do Rumsfeld's words signal that effort is failing?
• MEETING OF THE NATO-RUSSIA COUNCIL AT THE LEVEL OF MINISTERS OF DEFENCE NATO HEADQUARTERS STATEMENT NATO Press Release 13 Jun 2003 -- The NATO-Russia Council met in Defence Ministerial session in Brussels on 13June. As Defence Ministers, we welcomed the significant NRC contribution to Euro-Atlantic security, and the progress achieved in implementing the objectives set by our Heads of State and Government at their Rome Summit a year ago.
• NATO EXERCISES WITH PARTNERS IN THE BLACK SEA NATO Press Release 13 Jun 2003 -- Naples, Italy NATOs annual maritime and amphibious exercise COOPERATIVE PARTNER 2003 (CP 03) will take place from 20 June until 05 July 2003 near Odessa, Ukraine, and in the Black Sea.
• CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY OF THE MEETING OF THE EURO-ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL IN DEFENCE MINISTERS SESSION NATO Press Release 13 Jun 2003 -- Defence Ministers and Representatives of the member countries of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) met in Brussels today. Ministers discussed Partnership's growing role in addressing the new security challenges. They also exchanged views on the process of building security and stability in Afghanistan.

• Rumsfeld Warns Belgium Over Human Rights Lawsuits Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned Belgium June 12 that the United States would hold up money to build a new NATO headquarters complex in Brussels and might restrict travel by senior U.S. military and civilian officials to NATO meetings unless Belgium changes its law permitting spurious claims of human rights violations to be brought against U.S. officials.

• Transcript: Briefing on New Defense Department Internet Protocol 13 Jun 2003 -- Briefing on DoD's adoption of the next-generation Internet protocol. Also participating was Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs (media operations).
• Next-Generation Internet Protocol to Enable Net-Centric Operations 13 Jun 2003 -- Implementation of the next-generation Internet protocol that will bring the Department of Defense closer to its goal of net-centric warfare and operations was announced today by John P. Stenbit, assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration and DoD chief information officer.
• New Internet Protocol Version Slated For Debut AFPS 13 Jun 2003 -- An improved version of the Internet, featuring enhancements that improve system security and data delivery, will be part of DoD's integrated information-communications network, a senior U.S. defense official said here today.

• Rumsfeld: New Tools Needed Against Threats Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- New tools of international cooperation are needed to deal with new threats to international security, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said June 11 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
• Vice President: Army 'Hard at Work' to Transform in a New Era AFPS 13 Jun 2003 -- "The most important ingredient for the Army's success will be the soldiers who take the risk and make the sacrifices and who win our wars," Vice President Dick Cheney, told a Pentagon audience today during a ceremony to salute the Army's 228th birthday.
• French Military Hones Anti-Aircraft Missile Capability Marine Corps News 13 Jun 2003-- Combat capabilities between Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and French troops were displayed during an exercise that honed both force's anti-aircraft tactics, techniques and procedures, here.
• Super Stallion soars with new rotor head Marine Corps News 13 Jun 2003-- A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter is flying high after spending 23 days broken down on the flight line here.

• U.N. Security Council Releases Resolution on Immunity for Peacekeepers Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- The U.N. Security Council June 12 adopted a resolution renewing immunity for U.N. peacekeepers from prosecution for war crimes by the new International Criminal Court (ICC).
• UN: Vote To Extend Immunity On ICC Highlights Gulf Among Allies RFE/L 13 Jun 2003 -- Peacekeepers from the United States and other nonparties to the statute of the International Criminal Court will be exempt from prosecution by the court for another year. A compromise resolution passed yesterday in the UN Security Council, but France and Germany abstained, and a public debate affirmed that deep divisions over the court remain. Meanwhile, U.S. officials continue to point to a Belgian law on war crimes as a reason for their concern about politically motivated prosecutions of U.S. citizens.
• UN Security Council Renews ICC Exemption for US Peacekeepers VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council has renewed a one-year exemption for U.S. peacekeepers from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. France, Germany and Syria signaled opposition to the measure by abstaining from the vote.

Defense Industry

• EADS awards Norwegian industry with technology development contracts for Eurofighter EADS 13 Jun 2003 -- Today EADS, part of the Eurofighter consortium, signed a contract with Thales of Norway for the development of advanced maintenance data recording techniques. This contract, worth six million EUR will involve close cooperation between Thales and EADS over the next three to four years in high technology development work.
• Lockheed Martin Awarded $42 Million Contract to Provide Surveillance Equipment for CP140 Aurora Fleet Lockheed Martin 13 Jun 2003 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] today announced that it has been awarded a $42 million contract to deliver state-of-the-art Electro-Optical / Infrared imaging systems for Canada's fleet of CP140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft. As part of the Department of National Defence's multi-year Avionics Incremental Modernization Program, the new systems will dramatically improve intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities by extending the range in which the aircraft can accurately conduct their missions.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 13 Jun 2003
• POWELL / MIDEAST VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell continued telephone diplomacy Friday to try to calm the situation in the Middle East. He said the United States wants to see Israeli restraint but that administration efforts are focused on getting Hamas and other radical Palestinian factions to halt terrorism.
• U-S / MIDEAST VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The United States is trying to salvage the latest Middle East peace effort, known as the road map, which has been undermined by a week of violence which has left dozens dead on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Israeli helicopters launched new attacks in the Gaza Strip Friday, while an Israeli man was killed in a shooting in the West Bank town of Jenin. The violence has continued nearly non-stop for the past week.
• Rice Calls for Israeli-Palestinian Cooperation Against Terror Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- The key to peace in the Middle East is for Israelis and Palestinians to work together to fight terrorism, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said June 12 in remarks in Los Angeles, California.
• Boucher Says Terrorist Groups "Undercutting Palestinian Cause" Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that not only Israelis and Palestinians, but everybody in the Middle East region should focus upon stopping funds and support from reaching terrorist groups such as Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Brigade.
• 1 Dead in New Israeli Missile Strike in Gaza VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Israeli helicopter gunships have killed a Hamas militant in Gaza after reports that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the army to "wipe out" the Palestinian militant group.
• Israeli Helicopters Launch New Attack on Gaza VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Israeli helicopters launched new attacks in the Gaza Strip Friday, while an Israeli man was killed in a shooting in the West Bank town of Jenin.
• Powell Tries to Calm Down Middle East Violence VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell continued telephone diplomacy Friday to try to calm the situation in the Middle East. He said the United States wants to see Israeli restraint but that administration efforts are focused on getting Hamas and other radical Palestinian factions to halt terrorism.
• Israel and Palestinians must "stay the course" of peace - senior UN official UN News Centre 13 Jun 2003 -- Saying that "the alternative is no alternative," a senior United Nations official today urged Israel and the Palestinians to "stay the course" of the latest peace initiative in the face of a recent upsurge of violence, and he exhorted the international community to do everything possible to help them do so.
• Annan to attend Quartet meeting in Jordan in bid to boost Middle East peace UN News Centre 13 Jun 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will participate in a meeting in Amman, Jordan, on 22 June with fellow sponsors of the Road Map peace plan - the United States, European Union and Russia - in an effort to boost the initiative in the face of continuing Israeli-Palestinian violence.
• Security Council demands 'immediate cessation' of Middle East violence UN News Centre 13 Jun 2003 -- Voicing "serious concern" at the upsurge of Israeli-Palestinian violence, members of the United Nations Security Council today demanded "an immediate cessation to all acts of violence, including all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction."
• Israel to 'Step Up' Operations Against Hamas VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Israeli news reports say leaders of the Jewish state are preparing to escalate operations against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The reports say Israel's targets will include leaders of Hamas, including the group's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
• US Launches Effort to Salvage Mideast Peace Effort VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The United States is trying to salvage the latest Middle East peace effort, known as the road map, which has been undermined by a week of violence which has left dozens dead on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• UN Troops Respond to Clashes in Congo Region VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- French-led peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have responded to reports of tribal fighting near the northwestern town of Bunia.
• DRC: US sends emergency aid for Ituri IDPs IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- The US government has sent a consignment of emergency supplies to help 55,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) from Bunia and surrounding areas, officials at the US embassy in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), said on Thursday.
• CONGO: Road traffic in Pool Region resumes IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- The resumption of road traffic in the Pool Region of the Republic of Congo (ROC), following the signing of a peace agreement between the government and "Ninja" rebels, has brought markets in the capital, Brazzaville, back to life, businesspeople have told IRIN.
• U N / LIBERIA VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- United Nations aid agencies say health and living conditions are rapidly deteriorating in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, due to fighting near the city between government and rebel forces. Earlier in the week, most foreign aid workers were airlifted out of the city. Their absence is seriously hampering the delivery of aid.
• LIBERIA TALKS VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- West African mediators at Liberian peace talks in Ghana are trying to secure the signing of a cease-fire by all warring parties, so that the talks can proceed.
• Aid Agencies Warn of Humanitarian Disaster in Liberia VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- International aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian disaster in war-torn Liberia, as peace talks continue between the government and rebels. A spokeswoman for the World Health Organization told reporters Friday, in Geneva that thousands of people are stuck in communal shelters in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, with little food or medical care.
• Liberia: UN relief agencies work in 'chaotic' security situation to gain ground UN News Centre 13 Jun 2003 -- As the various factions involved in the ceasefire negotiations for Liberia prepare for their first face-to-face meeting today in Ghana, United Nations agencies inside the country hope to use the respite in the fighting to gain some ground against a "chaotic" humanitarian and security situation in and around the capital Monrovia.
• LIBERIA: Peace talks close to agreement on ceasefire IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- The Liberian government and rebels continued discussing a cease-fire at peace talks in Ghana on Friday amid hopes they could sign an agreement by the end of this week.
• LIBERIA: Government estimates over 300 killed in fighting IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- The Liberian government said on Friday it estimated that at least 300 people were killed during several days of heavy fighting with rebels who launched an attack on the capital, Monrovia. They included civilians, soldiers and rebels.
• IVORY COAST/BURKINA FASO VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Army chiefs from Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso are meeting in Abidjan to discuss reopening their borders, closed for eight months because of the Ivorian civil war.
• FRANCE / AFRICA VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin appealed today (Friday) for the international community to do more to resolve wars and other conflicts in Africa. Mr. de Villepin spoke at the start of a conference in the French capital on ways to better manage African crises.
• ERITREA: Government has capacity to clear mines itself - information ministry IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- The Eritrean government has the capacity and experience to clear the country's minefields on its own, the Acting Information Minister, Ali Abdu Ahmed told IRIN on Thursday.
• UGANDA: Ituri clashes worsen humanitarian situation in the west - report IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- Continued ethnic clashes in Ituri District, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have resulted in a steady increase of refugees into the western Ugandan district of Bundibugyo, worsening an already critical humanitarian situation in the district, a new report says.
• ERITREA-SUDAN: Progress on repatriation of Eritrean refugees IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reached an agreement with the governments of Eritrea and Sudan on where to open a humanitarian corridor between the two countries to facilitate the repatriation of thousands of Eritrean refugees, the UNHCR has said.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 13 Jun 2003 -- Americans threaten to block some NATO spending unless Belgium settles war crimes issue / France presses NATO for EU takeover in Bosnia / EU launches peacekeeping mission in Congo / Canada-US missile defense talks to open this month

• The Future of U.S.-UN Relations US Dept. of State 13 Jun 2003 -- Kim R. Holmes, Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs; Remarks at the XXI German American Conference

• E-U / CONSTITUTION VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The European Union is one step closer to having its own constitution. The convention that has been drawing up the document has finalized a draft text that will be presented to European leaders next week at a summit in Greece. But some key items have been left unresolved and are sure to be the subject of hard bargaining when member governments begin discussing the constitution later this year.
• TIBET/CHINA VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The Tibetan government-in-exile says it is greatly encouraged by recent contacts with China's newly installed leadership.
• EDITORIAL: JUSTICE FOR CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Cambodia and the United Nations have signed an agreement to bring to trial senior Khmer Rouge leaders and those most responsible for the deaths of as many as three-million Cambodian men, women, and children.
• SOUTHERN AFRICA / FOOD VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The southern African region produced more food this year than last, when months without rain and other problems left millions of people severely short of food. But some countries in the region still need food aid.
• BURMA POL VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Burma's foremost democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi, is again in detention following an attack on her and her followers by a government-backed mob in which scores are reported to have been killed or injured. The current climate makes any effort to rekindle a dialogue between the military government and the pro-democracy opposition extremely unlikely.
• ZIMBABWE / COURT VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, will have to wait until Monday to learn whether he will be freed from jail. State prosecutors argued Friday that Mr. Tsvangirai should not be granted bail in case he calls for more anti-government protests.
• CAMBODIA/PROTESTS VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- At least one man was killed and three injured when Cambodian riot police fired shots into a crowd of hundreds of protesting garment workers. One policeman was also reported killed in the incident, which came only days before the start of a regional security summit in Phnom Penh.
• WHO / SARS VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- The World Health Organization says it is lifting its travel warning against most places in China, but the warning still applies to Beijing. The agency is lifting travel warnings for China's Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Tianjin regions.
• SERBIA / WAR CRIMES VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- One of Serbia's top war crimes suspects is in a Belgrade jail after Serbian police stormed his apartment early Friday. Former Yugoslav National Army Colonel Veselin Sljivancanin [pron: shlee-vahn-'CHAH-nin] was taken into custody on charges of involvement in a 1991 massacre during Croatia's war for independence from Yugoslavia.
• McConnell Looks to New Dawn for Democracy for Burmese People Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- In remarks one day after the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 passed the Senate in a 97-1 vote, the second most powerful Republican lawmaker in the Senate said he hoped the vote sent "the thugs" who are ruling Burma "a strong message."
• House International Relations Committee Approves Burma Sanctions Act Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- One day after the Senate passed a bill endorsing sanctions on Burma by a 97-to-one margin, the House International Relations Committee passed by voice vote its own version of a sanctions bill aimed at that country.
• Cuba Subjects Jailed Dissidents to Harsh Conditions, Inhumane Treatment Washington File 13 Jun 2003 -- Pro-democracy activists jailed by the regime of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro are systematically subjected to harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, according to first-hand accounts smuggled out of Cuba by relatives of incarcerated dissidents.
• Cambodian Police Open Fire on Protesters VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- At least one man was killed and three injured when Cambodian riot police fired shots into a crowd of hundreds of protesting garment workers. One policeman was also reported killed in the incident, which came only days before the start of a regional security summit in Phnom Penh.
• UN-chaired commission on Cameroon-Nigeria border dispute holds fourth meeting UN News Centre 13 Jun 2003 -- A United Nations-chaired panel on the Cameroon-Nigeria border dispute over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula has concluded its fourth meeting.
• Draft EU Constitution Approved VOA 13 Jun 2003 -- Delegates at a European Union convention have approved a draft constitution spelling out how the growing bloc will be governed in the decades ahead.
• Czech Republic: Voting Begins In Referendum On Whether To Join European Union RFE/L 13 Jun 2003 -- Czechs begin voting today in a two-day referendum on whether their country should join the European Union or not.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- Three people died and three others were reported missing after torrential rains struck the mountainous northern areas of Tajikistan at the end of last week. According to the United Nations, the three were killed after mud-slides ripped through the Panjakent District of Sughd Province, 200 km north of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. Over 100 homes were said to have been destroyed, leaving scores homeless.
• GUINEA-BISSAU: UN doubts ability to hold elections in July IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has cast doubt on Guinea-Bissau's ability to hold credible parliamentary elections next month, remarking that the small West African country "has embarked on a downward course" following its return to democracy three years ago.
• ZIMBABWE: Tsvangirai remains in jail while awaiting bail IRIN 13 Jun 2003 -- Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), will spend another weekend in prison while he awaits a decision on his bail application.