Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• Transcript: Briefing on Joint Lessons Learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom 03 Oct 2003 -- Participating were Lawrence Di Rita, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, and Army Brig. Gen. Robert W. Cone, director, Joint Center for Lessons Learned, U.S. Joint Forces Command.
• V CORPS, GUARD SOLDIERS TEAM UP TO IMPROVE IRAQI VILLAGE SCHOOL V Corps Release 03 Oct 2003-- Iraqi children in this small village have a newly renovated field where they can improve their soccer skills, thanks to soldiers from V Corps's 181st Transportation Battalion and National Guard troops from Arkansas and Washington.
• V CORPS ARTILLERYMEN TAKE ON PROJECT TO REHABILITATE BAGHDAD REHABILITATION CENTER V Corps Release 03 Oct 2003-- Broken, rusted wheelchairs lie in heaps behind a center for disabled Iraqis. Inside, X-ray machines and rehabilitation equipment rot away, unused and in disrepair.

• Anti al-Qaeda operation concludes: spokesman IRNA 03 Oct 2003 -- Pakistan`s Military spokesman, Maj. General Shaukat Sultan, Friday said the operation against al-Qaeda suspects in tribal area has been completed, saying "no terrorist has been left" in the area.
• AFGHANISTAN/BAGRAM BLAST VOA 03 Oct 2003-- In Afghanistan, an accidental explosion near the U-S military headquarters at Bagram Air Field killed six Afghan civilians and injured seven

Defense Policy / Programs

• Military Investigates Malaria Outbreak Among Liberia Quick Reaction Force Members AFPS 03 Oct 2003-- Military health officials want to know why almost a third of the members of a U.S. quick- reaction force that recently served in Liberia came down with malaria.

• Navy Names Newest USNS Ship for Medal of Honor Recipient 03 Oct 2003 -- The U.S. Navy will officially name its newest prepositioning ship USNS Lance Cpl. Roy M. Wheat, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003, during a 10:30 a.m. EDT ceremony at Blount Island Command, Jacksonville, Fla.
• Navy Names Newest USNS Ship for Medal of Honor Recipient Navy Newsstand 03 Oct 2003-- The U.S. Navy will officially name its newest prepositioning ship USNS Lance Cpl. Roy M. Wheat, Oct. 7, during a 10:30 a.m. EDT ceremony at Blount Island Command, Jacksonville, Fla.
• USS Anchorage Decommissioned Navy Newsstand 03 Oct 2003-- The crew of "Classic 36" said goodbye to an old friend this week. USS Anchorage (LSD 36), the oldest dock landing ship in the Navy, was solemnly decommissioned and stricken from the active list after 34 years of service during a ceremony Oct. 1 at Naval Base San Diego.
• Hall Says Rebalancing Will Reduce Multiple Reserve Mobilizations AFPS 03 Oct 2003-- If you're a National Guardsman or Reservist, chances are about 64 percent that you've been called to active duty during one of seven major mobilizations since 1990. There's about a 4 to 5 percent chance that you've been mobilized two or more times.
• Power of Jointness Among Lessons Learned in Operation Iraqi Freedom AFPS 03 Oct 2003-- One of the lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom is the "power of jointness" Army Brig. Gen. Robert W. Cone, director of the Joint Center for Lessons Learned, U.S. Joint Forces Command, told reporters assembled at the Pentagon here Oct. 2.

• E-U / DEFENSE VOA 03 Oct 2003-- European Union defense ministers are meeting in Rome on Friday and Saturday to discuss a controversial plan that would set up an E-U military headquarters independent of NATO
• Turkey against European military HQ IRNA 03 Oct 2003 -- Turkey`s Ambassador to NATO has voiced opposition to plans by Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg to create a separate European military headquarters near Brussels.

• NATO SHIPS WILL VISIT ALGIERS, ALGERIA NATO AFSOUTH 03 Oct 2003 -- NATO ships will visit Algeria from 5 to 8 October 2003 when six units from NATO's Mine Countermeasures Force South (MCMFORSOUTH) will be berthed in Algiers. The visit will allow NATO to foster dialogue, co-operation and mutual understanding as part of the ongoing "Mediterranean Dialogue" Programme.
• NATO SHIPS TO VISIT NAPLES NATO AFSOUTH 03 Oct 2003 -- Four ships of NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) will anchor in Naples Bay from 5 to 6 October 2003.
• Transcript: Background Briefing on the upcoming NATO Informal Ministerial 03 Oct 2003 -- "Secretary Rumsfeld will be hosting this 2003 NATO informal defense ministers' meeting, Colorado Springs, on 7 to 9 October. It's important to understand that the informals meet once a year, usually in another venue outside of Brussels, whereas up till now the defense formals, which occur twice a year, usually in June and December, occur in Brussels. A main difference is, the informal is designed to have a more informal setting, a more informal set of discussions; there are not formal communiqués issued and that sort of thing."

Defense Industry

• U.S. Navy Awards General Dynamics $14.4 Million Submarine Engineering Contract General Dynamics 03 Oct 2003 -- The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $14.4 million contract modification for submarine engineering and life-cycle support work. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 03 Oct 2003
• Russia: Little Seen As 'Normal' In Presidential Vote In Chechnya (Part 1) RFE/RL 03 Oct 2003 -- Chechens are due to head to the polls on Sunday (5 October) to vote for a new president. The election has been touted by Moscow as proof the situation in the war-torn republic is "normalizing." But the race has been dominated by a single candidate -- the Kremlin's hand-picked favorite, acting Chechen President Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov. In a region racked by four years of war and with the election of Kadyrov virtually assured, many say the situation in Chechnya is anything but normal.
• Russia: EU Official Deplores Moscow's Lack Of Cooperation In Chechnya (Part 2) RFE/RL 03 Oct 2003 -- The European Union's top aid official in Russia says Moscow has done very little -- if anything -- to improve the humanitarian situation in its breakaway republic of Chechnya. Philippe Royan says that four years after the start of the republic's second conflict, Chechnya remains one of the most difficult aid operations in the world.
• Russia: How Western Attitudes Toward Wars Have Shifted (Part 3) RFE/RL 03 Oct 2003 -- An estimated 200,000 civilians and thousands of Russian troops are believed to have perished in the course of Russia's two wars in Chechnya. The battles -- and the widespread accusations of Russian atrocities that accompanied them -- were once at the forefront of the international agenda, the subject of high-level criticism that overshadowed Russia's relations with Western countries. But if the issue comes up in talks these days, the criticism, if any, is subdued.

• PAKISTAN/VIOLENCE VOA 03 Oct 2003-- Unidentified gunmen in Pakistan have killed at least six Shiite Muslims and injured several others in an attack on a bus in the southern port city of Karachi
• ISRAEL/LEBANON VOA 03 Oct 2003-- Israel and the militant Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon are stepping up negotiations on a possible exchange of prisoners. Israeli officials have flown to Europe for talks with German mediators helping to broker a deal
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 03 Oct 2003-- The Israeli military is proposing to build 400-meter buffer zones around all West Bank Jewish settlements not included within a controversial security barrier. The plan is being made amid increased international protests against the barrier and plans to build more homes for Jewish settlers

• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Eritrea warns of "explosive" situation IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- Eritrea has warned of an "explosive" situation in the peace process with Ethiopia and called for action from the international community.
• ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN tells Ethiopia to implement border ruling IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- The UN Security Council has rejected calls by Ethiopia for a new body to rule on contested areas of the border with neighbouring Eritrea.
• D-R-C / CEASE-FIRE VOA 03 Oct 2003-- Rwandan-backed rebels and tribal Mai Mai warriors have agreed on a cease-fire in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United Nations, which has mediated the talks, hopes this will be the first of many local initiatives aimed at stopping fighting throughout the eastern part of the country
• DRC: MONUC's Swing hails new phase of improved relations IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- The UN Secretary-General’s special representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), William Swing, has hailed a new phase of improved relations among the countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa, following last week's high-level meeting convened by Kofi Annan to discuss the ongoing peace process in the Congo, the UN Department of Public Information reported.
• DRC: Mayi-Mayi, RCD-Goma sign ceasefire in Shabunda IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- An agreement to cease hostilities between forces of Gen David Padiri Bulenda's Mayi-Mayi militia and the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) former rebel movement - both now parties to a national power-sharing government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - was signed on Wednesday in Shabunda, South Kivu Province, under the mediation of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as MONUC.
• PHILIPPINES / MOSQUE BLAST VOA 03 Oct 2003-- A grenade explosion at a mosque in the southern Philippines has killed at least two people and wounded several others
• UGANDA: Call to "buy off" rebels rejected IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- The Ugandan army and leaders of a peace initiative have rejected calls to offer money to the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in a bid to stop its devastating insurrection.
• LIBERIA: Government, rebels trade accusations over Wednesday shootout IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- Liberia's Interim President Moses Blah and the chairman of the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) Sekou Damate Conneh, have traded accusations over Wednesday's shootout in the capital, Monrovia in which nine people died.
• BURUNDI: South Africa to host talks between government, FDD IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- South African President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma will facilitate consultations in Pretoria on Sunday between delegations of the transitional government of Burundi, led by President Domitien Ndayizeye, and the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) movement, led by Pierre Nkurunziza, the South African Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday.
• SUDAN: Widespread insecurity in Darfur despite ceasefire IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- About 300,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in Darfur's three states since August, as a result of widespread burning, looting and killing in their villages by Arab militias, humanitarian sources said on Friday.
• SUDAN-UGANDA: Countries cooperating over LRA - defence minister IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- Ugandan Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi has said the government is now satisfied that Sudan is committed to helping Uganda fight the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 03 Oct 2003 -- Lord Robertson says NATO remains open to Macedonia (sic) / Italy floats plan to cool EU defence HQ squabble / Kofi Annan doubtful about any UN role under U.S. Iraq plan / Turkish PM calls for swift vote on troops to Iraq / Two Canadian peacekeepers killed and three wounded in Kabul land mine explosion / Seven ethnic Albanians arrested in murder case / President Putin says Russia has fresh stockpiles of Soviet-era nuclear missiles / Russia keeps pre-emptive military strike doctrine
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 03 Oct 2003 -- Russian general warns against "Anti-Russian trends" in NATO military plans / Finnish poll: 50% want referendum on defense, 63% oppose NATO membership / Annan rejects U.S. plan for Iraqi transition / EU Defense Ministers aim to avert military HQ row at Rome meet / U.S. Gen. Packett takes over as SFOR commander in Bosnia

• PAKISTAN / AL-QAIDA VOA 03 Oct 2003-- Military officials in Pakistan say they have killed eight suspected al-Qaida militants and have arrested another 18 in what is being described as the largest-ever operation against the international terrorist network
• BURMA/U-N ENVOY VOA 03 Oct 2003-- The United Nations envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, failed to secure the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a recent visit. But he says he has at least re-established contact between the military government and the opposition.
• LAOS / HUMAN RIGHTS VOA 03 Oct 2003-- Amnesty International is blasting the government of Laos for using starvation as a weapon of war against members of the ethnic Hmong minority
• ASIA / SARS VOA 03 Oct 2003-- The World Health Organization says that Taiwan's SARS outbreak earlier this year effected only half as many people as originally reported
• U.S. Sees Positive Steps, Areas for Concern in Uzbekistan Washington File 03 Oct 2003-- The United States believes the government of Uzbekistan has taken several "positive steps" recently in terms of economic development and human rights and is "very encouraged by the growing cooperation and collaboration between the Government of Uzbekistan and the [OSCE] Center in Tashkent," says Ambassador Stephan Minikes, the head of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE.
• White House Daily Briefing, October 3, 2003 Washington File 03 Oct 2003-- President's schedule, Iraqi police force/graduating, Dept. of Justice/letter, economy, Israel/Palestinians, UN/draft resolution, campaign finance, week ahead
• DRC: Military judges, trained in human rights, propose new code of conduct IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- Following a two-day training of 120 military magistrates organised by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), participants agreed on Wednesday to work for a new code of conduct in their profession.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 03 Oct 2003 -- An earthquake measuring five on the Richter scale hit eastern Kazakhstan on Saturday. According to the Central Seismic Station in Almaty, the Kazakh commercial capital, its epicentre was in the Zaysan District's Qarabulaq village, close to the Kazakh-Chinese border, where the magnitude reached seven on the Richter scale. No casualties or damage has been reported.