Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Ivy Serpent' nets weapons cache, brings down Hussein statue Army News Service 21 Jul 2003-- A 4th Infantry Division task force recently completed another sweep for illegal weapons caches in Iraq and brought down another statue of Saddam Hussein to mark the end of Operation Ivy Serpent last week.
• V CORPS ARTILLERYMEN HELP CLEAN UP DANGEROUS MUNITIONS IN BAGHDAD NEIGHBORHOODS V Corps Release 21 Jul 2003-- The soldiers of V Corps' Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery, know their way around this city.
• Marines provide security academy in Najaf Marine Corps News 21 Jul 2003-- Troops from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, based in 29 Palms, Calif. has set up its own security guard academy to train local residents into professional security officers.

• 21 Marines Sent Into Liberia at Ambassador's Request AFPS 21 Jul 2003 -- A team of 21 U.S. Marines arrived in Monrovia today to add a level of security to the U.S. Embassy in Liberia's capital, Defense officials in the Pentagon said.
• Additional U.S. Military Security Personnel Dispatched to Liberia Washington File 21 Jul 2003 -- Forty-one additional U.S. military security personnel were sent into Liberia July 21 as the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia was caught in the cross-fire between the troops of embattled Liberian President Charles Taylor and rebel forces fighting them.
• Bush: US to Monitor Situation in Liberia 'Closely' VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- President Bush says he is keeping a close watch on the situation in war-torn Liberia.
• U-S / LIBERIA WRAP VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- The United States Monday condemned rebel shelling of the Liberian capital Monrovia as the Bush administration continued to consider the possible dispatch of U-S peacekeepers to the troubled west African state. Secretary of State Colin Powell conferred again by phone with U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
• Liberia poised between 'hope and disaster' - Annan UN News Centre 21 Jul 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today warned that Liberia is "poised between hope and disaster" and stressed that the prompt and urgent deployment of troops is needed to salvage the situation.
• 60 Dead as Mortar Shells Hit Liberian Capital VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- 60 Dead as Mortar Shells Hit Liberian Capital
• Heavy Fighting Continues for 3rd Day in Monrovia, Liberia VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- Fighting is raging for a third day in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, as rebels are targeting strategic areas of the city. President Charles Taylor remains defiant and has said his forces will fight the rebels to the last man.
• LIBERIA / FIGHTING VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- Fighting is raging for a third day in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, with intense shelling reported near the U-S embassy in the city. Though there are no reports of casualties inside the embassy compound, at least six people have been reported killed in the vicinity of the embassy.
• PENTAGON/LIBERIA VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- A three-ship U-S amphibious assault group carrying more than two-thousand Marines is moving into the Mediterranean from the Horn of Africa. It could be the first step in deploying the unit to Liberia, if President Bush decides to order U-S peacekeepers into the strife-torn country.
• BUSH LIBERIA VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- President Bush says he is keeping a close watch on the situation in war-torn Liberia. He spoke shortly after a small contingent of U-S marines arrived to protect the U-S embassy in Monrovia.
• Mortar Shell Hits US Embassy in Liberia as Marines Arrive for Security VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- The U.S. Embassy in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, has been hit by a mortar shell as rebel forces fight to overthrow President Charles Taylor.
• LIBERIA/FIGHTING VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- Fighting is raging for a third day in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, as rebels are targeting strategic areas of the city. President Charles Taylor remains defiant and has said his forces will fight the rebels to the last man.
• Additional Security Personnel Ordered to Monrovia 21 Jul 2003 -- At the request of the U.S. Ambassador in Monrovia, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has ordered additional security personnel to the United States embassy. The Secretary has ordered the dispatch of up to an additional 41 FAST members from Rota, Spain to Monrovia.
• US Sends Marines to Protect Embassy in Liberia VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- The U.S. military has sent a team of 41 marines to Liberia to reinforce security at the American embassy in the war-torn capital, Monrovia. A military spokesman says the force is expected to arrive later Monday.
• Fighting Surges in Liberia; US Sends Marines to Protect Embassy VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- Rebel forces fighting to overthrow Liberian President Charles Taylor are battling their way back to key bridges in the war-torn capital, as U.S. troops arrive to reinforce security at the American embassy.

• Special Ops Troops Kill Two Dozen Enemy Forces in Afghanistan AFPS 21 Jul 2003 -- American special operations forces killed roughly two dozen enemy forces after being attacked in Afghanistan July 19. While, elsewhere, nine coalition troops have been wounded in recent days.
• Fighting Erupts in Southern Afghanistan VOA News 21 Jul 2003 -- The U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition says its forces have killed up to two dozen suspected Taleban militants in a clash in southern Afghanistan. A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan says fighting erupted after suspected Taleban fighters ambushed a coalition convoy near the southern border town of Spin Boldak Saturday.
• TROOPS ENGAGE HOSTILE FORCES NEAR SPIN BOLDAK CENTCOM 21 Jul 2003 -- Special Operations Forces killed approximately 22-24 enemy soldiers when an unknown element attacked a coalition convoy in the vicinity of the fire base at Spin Boldak Saturday.
• AFGHANISTAN / TALEBAN VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- The U-S-led anti-terrorism coalition says its forces have killed up to two dozen suspected Taleban militants in a clash in southern Afghanistan.
• Afghanistan: Drug Addiction On Rise Among Women RFE/L 21 Jul 2003 -- A nongovernmental group in Afghanistan is expressing concern over the apparent rise in drug addiction among the country's women and children. The Kabul-based Najat Center says most of the women addicts are former refugees who returned home from Iran and Pakistan to find few prospects or means of support. The rise in drug addiction among children has a different, even more troubling, source: mothers are giving them drops of opium to help them sleep.

• Marines strike secret Ba'ath Party hideout Marine Corps News 21 Jul 2003-- Applying increased pressure to those loyal to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Marines from the First Marine Division raided a secret Ba'ath Party hideout July 14, which intelligence sources said was being used to plan future attacks against coalition forces.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Bush, Berlusconi Discuss Ways to Broaden Coalition in Iraq Washington File 21 Jul 2003 -- Remarks on Iraq reconstruction, Mideast, N. Korea, Liberia, U.S.-Italian ties - President Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi discussed a range of issues during talks at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas July 21, including "how to broaden the coalition to bring more security to Iraq," Bush told reporters.

• Tactical Tomahawk - Live Warhead Test Launch From Submarine NAVAIR Release 21 Jul 2003-- With an unprecedented string of successful test events, the U.S. Navy's new Tomahawk cruise missile, Block IV or Tactical Tomahawk, completed its government technical flight test evaluation period. On July 20, the Tactical Tomahawk, configured with a live warhead, was launched from a Los Angeles Class submarine, USS TUCSON (SSN-770), in the waters of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) sea test range off the coast of southern California. The event marked the missile's first live warhead shot from a submarine and the second launch of the Tactical Tomahawk from the USS TUCSON using the new submarine Combat Control System (CCS MK 2).
• Bush Thanks Italian PM for Support in War on Terrorism AFPS 21 Jul 2003 -- America and Europe are "both more secure and more effective" when they work together, President George W. Bush said today during a press conference with his Italian counterpart.
• ROK, US to Hold Drill Sept. 18-29 Korea-net 21 Jul 2003 -- South Korea and the United States will conduct annual war games from Sept. 18-29 to test their preparedness, the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) said on Monday (July 21).
• 'Navy 1' Makes a Permanent Stop at NAS Pensacola Navy Newsstand 21 Jul 2003-- The VS-35 "Blue Wolves" flew their S-3B Viking anti-submarine warfare aircraft number 700 for its final flight from Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, San Diego to the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Fla., July 15.
• T-2s, The End of an Era Navy Newsstand 21 Jul 2003-- A venerable T-2C Buckeye has come full circle, in a way.
• HSV-X1 surfs African region Marine Corps News 21 Jul 2003-- The United States Navy's High Speed Vessel, HSV-X1 Joint Venture, recently arrived at the Port of Djibouti with personnel from Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa who have been participating in training exercises in Kenya.

Defense Industry

• GE Awarded $510 Million Contract from the U.S. Navy GE Aviation 21 Jul 2003 -- GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) has been awarded a $510 million performance-based logistics (PBL) contract by the U.S. Navy.
• Navy Exercises Option for Fourth T-AKE Ship, Awarding $288 Million Contract to NASSCO General Dynamics 21 Jul 2003 -- National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today that the U.S. Navy has exercised an option to build a fourth ship for the T-AKE program, a new class of combat logistics force ships, at a contract value of $288 million.
• Service Based Architecture Approach is Key to General Dynamics Decision Systems Selection for FCS Awards General Dynamics 21 Jul 2003 -- General Dynamics Decision Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has been selected to enter negotiations toward contracts to lead two major command and control system integration packages and subcontract on a third on the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, being led by Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Science Applications International Corporations (SAIC).
• General Dynamics and Oto Melara Team for U.S. Market General Dynamics 21 Jul 2003 -- General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), announced today that it has signed a letter of intent for cooperation on the sale of weapon systems and ammunition to the U.S. armed forces with Oto Melara SpA of La Spezia, Italy.
• Northrop Grumman to Provide Navigation System for U.S. Army Helicopter Applications Northrop Grumman 21 Jul 2003 -- Pilots of the U.S. Army's UH-60 helicopters will soon benefit from a modern, upgradeable, high reliability, attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) from Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Navigation Systems Division that requires no airframe, electrical or cabling modifications to the helicopter.
• U.S. Army-Northrop Grumman Team Demonstrates New Radar Target Detection Capability for Ground Vehicles Northrop Grumman 21 Jul 2003 -- The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Systems Development and Technology Division have successfully demonstrated a new advanced radar system that helps protect Army ground vehicles from hostile missiles and artillery projectiles.
• U.S. Army-Northrop Grumman Team Successfully Demonstrates New Eagle Eyes Dual-Mode Seeker Northrop Grumman 21 Jul 2003 -- The U.S. Army's new Eagle Eyes dual-mode infrared/millimeter-wave radar (IR/MMW) seeker, supplied by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), successfully detected, acquired, tracked and struck a moving multiple rocket launcher during a June 27 engineering flight test.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 21 Jul 2003
• EU: Greater Role Sought In Mideast Peace Process RFE/L 21 Jul 2003 -- European Union foreign ministers today met with their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts in Brussels in a bid to provide new impetus to the "road map" to Middle East peace. EU ministers also sought to reassert the bloc's role as an important contributor to the peace process. That drive was welcomed by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom after today's meeting, although he indicated the EU needs to do more to "balance" its approach to Israel.
• BUSH / BERLUSCONI WRAP VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- President Bush is warning Iran and Syria not to help militants who seek to subvert the Mideast peace process. During a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the president's Texas ranch, Mr. Bush also discussed trouble spots in Africa and Asia.

• UN mission in DR of Congo investigates reports of latest clashes in two villages UN News Centre 21 Jul 2003 -- The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sent observers to two villages near the volatile town of Bunia to investigate reports of recent fighting there.
• DRC: Top EU official calls for stronger MONUC mandate IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The EU high representative for the common foreign and security policy, Javier Solana, has called on the UN Security Council to authorise a stronger mandate for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), similar to that of the EU-led multinational peace enforcement mission deployed to the northeastern town of Bunia.
• DRC: UN condemns recent fighting in Tchomia and Kasenyi, Ituri IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The UN has condemned recent fighting in the areas of Tchomia and Kasenyi in the troubled Ituri District of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• LIBERIA: Rebels try to encircle Monrovia as heavy fighting continues IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- Rebel forces continued to pound the Liberian capital Monrovia with mortar fire on Monday as fierce street fighting continued in the city centre and rebel reinforcements moved to cut off roads to the interior.
• LIBERIA: ECOWAS and MODEL call on LURD to stop fighting IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The mediator of Liberian peace talks appealed on Monday to rebels fighting their way into the capital Monrovia to cease hostilities immediately so that a peace agreement could be signed and West African peacekeeping troops deployed in the country.
• SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Hopes rise for return of elected government IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The soldiers who siezed power last week in the African island state of Sao Tome and Principe told foreign government representatives on Monday that they were ready in principle to hand back power to the elected government of President Fradique de Menezes.
• SAO TOME / NEGOTIATIONS VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- In Sao Tome, all the government ministers who were detained during last week's coup have been released, and, negotiations are continuing between the coup leaders and international mediators in an effort to find a peaceful resolution.

• INDIA/KASHMIR VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- In India's Jammu and Kashmir state, authorities say at least five people have been killed and about 25 injured in two explosions by suspected Islamic militants in a town visited by tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims every year.
• NEPAL/REBELS VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- Maoist rebels in Nepal have shut down their office in the capital, Kathmandu. The move has led to renewed concern over a stalled peace process that began earlier this year.
• Chechnya: Russian Soldiers, Chechen Fighters Die In Fighting RFE/L 21 Jul 2003 -- Six Russian soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in an overnight clash with separatist fighters in southwestern Chechnya.
• Georgia: President Calls On Russia To Cut Unsanctioned Ties With Abkhazia RFE/L 21 Jul 2003 -- Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze today called on Russia to sever all unsanctioned political and economic ties with the breakaway republic of Abkhazia.
• SUDAN: Government reaffirms support for peace mediation IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The Sudanese government on Monday reaffirmed its support for the Kenyan-led Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediation process, stating that it was "capable of achieving peace" in Sudan.
• DJIBOUTI: Djibouti "fully engaged" in Somali talks IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The Djibouti government has denied allegations that it is adopting a passive role in the Somali peace talks, currently underway in Kenya.
• BURUNDI: Belligerents recommit to ceasefire, again IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- Burundi's transitional government and Pierre Nkurunziza's Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) reaffirmed on Sunday their commitment to peace, following a day-long regional consultative meeting in the Tanzanian commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: CEMAC peacekeeping force deploys in the north IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The peacekeeping force of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa States (known by its French acronym, CEMAC), has launched its operations in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR), where insecurity has persisted since October 2002, a CEMAC official told IRIN in the capital, Bangui, on Saturday.
• SIERRA LEONE: Security Council slows down withdrawal of UN troops IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The UN Security Council has slowed down the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping troops from Sierra Leone in the light of the civil war raging in neighbouring Liberia, but still envisages that the last blue helmets will leave the West African country at the end of next year.

News Reports

• NIGERIA / HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- The New York-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch has concluded that police and military personnel are to blame for dozens of killings during the riots in the Nigerian town of Kaduna last November.
• KENYA / AIR CRASH VOA 21 Jul 2003 -- Rescuers are still working to retrieve the bodies of 12 U-S tourists and two South African pilots whose light charter aircraft crashed into Mount Kenya Saturday.
• SOMALIA: Somaliland warns against "declarations of sovereignty" IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have issued a warning against anyone trying to represent the region at the ongoing Somali peace talks in Kenya.
• MAURITANIA: Alleged coup plotter to face civil court IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- A Mauritanian army officer who was extradited from Senegal to face charges of involvement in last month's failed coup against President Maaouiya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya, will be tried by a civil not a military court, the judge in charge of his case said on Monday.
• COMOROS: AU delegation - recommendations but no solution IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- A senior official on Monday said although talks between African Union (AU) representatives and Comoros leaders last week were "fruitful", a resolution to the ongoing constitutional crisis in the archipelago had not been reached.
• SWAZILAND: Opposition demand legalisation of parties IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- Swaziland's draft constitution was initially greeted with relief by pro-democracy groups who had feared it would be far more draconian. But six weeks on, banned political parties have begun to condemn the document for its ambiguous language regarding the legalisation of political groups.
• RWANDA: Four cleared to contest presidency IRIN 21 Jul 2003 -- Rwanda’s National Electoral Commission has approved four candidates to contest the country’s first post-genocide presidential elections, scheduled for 25 August.