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Military


17 October 2003 Military News

Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

  • Raids disrupt regime loyalists Army News Service 17 Oct 2003-- Troops are taking to the streets of Saddam Hussein's hometown to uncover a web of bank rollers, leaders, and organizers of insurgent groups responsible for hit-and-run attacks on coalition forces.
  • Several Army MPs Killed, Wounded In Recent Iraq Attacks AFPS 17 Oct 2003 -- Four American military police were killed and nine were wounded as the result of insurgent attacks in Iraq over the past two days, according to U.S. Central Command press releases.
  • 4th Infantry Division Operation Supplies Iraqi School Children AFPS 17 Oct 2003 -- More than 4,000 pounds of school supplies reached Iraq recently thanks to the U.S. Army's Task Force Iron Horse, according to Maj. William Kennedy, 4th Infantry Division.
  • IRAQ WRAP VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- As the U-S Congress has approved President Bush's request for 87 billion dollars to help pay for reconstructing Iraq, Friday turned into another deadly day for U-S forces in that country.
  • Iraq: Five Dead In Karbala Attack, Second Attack In Kirkuk RFE/RL 17 Oct 2003 -- Three U.S. military police and two Iraqi police officers were killed overnight when unknown assailants fired at them from rooftops in the central Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Karbala.
  • IRAQ / ATTACK VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Three American soldiers were killed and four wounded during a gun battle late Thursday south of Baghdad. Two Iraqi police officers were also killed and five wounded in the attack.

  • Coalition Support Hospital Arms Bagram 'To the Teeth' AFPS 17 Oct 2003 -- Teeth are the fastest-aging part of the human body, and to help keep coalition forces here aging gracefully, the 452nd Combat Support Hospital's dental unit provides essential dental care for service members in need of immediate attention to their choppers.
  • 10th Mountain Division Soldiers Provide Quick Reaction Force AFPS 17 Oct 2003 -- Like firemen on duty at a firehouse, 10th Mountain Division infantry soldiers who make up Bagram's quick reaction force sit in their hut near the airfield, always ready to extinguish any problems coalition forces may have in the area.
  • AFGHANISTAN REPORT CARD VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Afghanistan is making progress toward becoming a democratic nation. In December, a loya jirga, or national council will meet to consider a draft constitution for Afghanistan. The draft, written by an Afghan commission has been presented to President Hamid Karzai for review. Kabul, the capital is now a city bustling with energy and commerce, with security provided by NATO forces. A new Afghan national army is also helping to bring security to parts of the country. But much of Afghanistan is still dangerous. The ousted Taleban regime and its Al-Qaida terrorist allies continue their efforts to destabilize the south. Operating out of Pakistan's lawless border provinces, they cross the border into Afghanistan to murder local officials and international aid workers. And in the North, there is an uneasy truce between warlords whose forces have been engaged in a provincial civil war. Is Afghanistan on the mend?

  • SOUTHCOM / BOLIVIA VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- The U-S Defense Department's Miami-based Southern Command is sending a team of advisors to Bolivia to advise the U-S Embassy in La Paz on security issues. The decision was made as Bolivia's President announced his resignation after weeks of massive protests against his government.

Defense Policy / Programs

  • Shadow 200 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Crashes Near Dongducheon 8th Army MS DOC 17 Oct 2003-- A Second Infantry Shadow 200 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) crash landed Thursday night at 9:05 p.m. on the banks of the Sinchon River near Dongducheon.
  • Sea Swap Initiative Sees Positive Results After First Year in Surface Force Navy Newsstand 17 Oct 2003-- The third crew exchange in the Navy's Sea Swap program took place recently in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, when USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) crew members donned USS Higgins (DDG 76) ballcaps and commenced their deployment after relieving USS Benfold (DDG 65) crew members aboard Higgins' hull. After the swap, team Benfold crew members flew back to San Diego to man the hull of John Paul Jones.
  • Homeland Defense Effort Taking Off, Officials Say AFPS 17 Oct 2003 -- In its short existence, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense has established good working relationships with all homeland security players, said one of the office's top officials.
  • PENTAGON/GENERAL/MUSLIMS VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- A senior Pentagon intelligence official criticized for comments considered offensive to Muslims has apologized but at the same time denied h

  • Sukhoi jets for India flagged off by IAF chief from Siberia IRNA 17 Oct 2003 -- A new batch of Su-30MKI multi-role jets, the latest variant of Russia`s Sukhoi series joining the Indian Air Force (IAF), was today flagged off by Air Chief Marshal, S. Krishnaswami, from an airfield in Siberia.

  • S.Arabia,.India largest arms purchasers, US tops sellers - daily IRNA 17 Oct 2003 -- Saudi Arabia emerged as world`s largest buyer of arms spending dlrs 5.2 billion last year while India was the second in the same year spending dollar 900 million on weapons, a local publication wrote Friday.

  • Pak. to take measures to counter Indian Phalcon purchase - agency IRNA 17 Oct 2003 -- Pakistan`s Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat declared on Friday that Pakistan was taking appropriate steps to counter the purchase of Phalcon radar system by India, official APP news agency reported.

  • EU: Summit Overshadowed By Differences Over Defense Policy RFE/RL 17 Oct 2003 -- The European Union today wrapped up its two-day autumn summit in Brussels. Although most of the agenda of the meeting of the 15 current and 10 future member states was dedicated to the bloc's future constitution and its ailing economy, much of the debate was overshadowed by differences over defense issues and the role NATO -- and more specifically, the United States -- should play in European defense.

  • Symposium on Unmanned Systems for Naval Mine Countermeasures and Harbour Protection NATO 17 Oct 2003 -- On 20-21 October 2003, NATO's Naval Group 3 on Mines and Mine Countermeasures will be holding a Symposium on Unmanned Systems for Naval Mine Warfare and Harbour Protection.
  • NATO PARLIAMENTARIANS DISCUSS MEDITERRANEAN SECURITY NATO PA 17 Oct 2003 -- NATO parliamentarians held their 9th Mediterranean Seminar in the Spanish city of Malaga on 9 and 10 October focusing on events in the Middle East following the war in Iraq. Legislators exchanged their views with their counterparts from several observer countries, many from North Africa and the Middle East.

Defense Industry

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 17 Oct 2003

  • Three officials in former Yugoslavia sentenced by UN tribunal to 6-17 years UN News Centre 17 Oct 2003 -- Three senior officials in the former Yugoslavia received sentences today ranging from six to 17 years for crimes against humanity - persecution and unlawful deportation of non-Serb civilians - from the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
  • HAGUE/WAR CRIMES VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague have convicted three Bosnian Serbs of persecuting Muslims and Croats. The three, whose crimes were committed in the northern Bosnian region of Bosanski Samac early in the Bosnian war, received sentences ranging from six to 17 years. But two of them could be released soon.

  • EDITORIAL: GAZA TERRORISTS KILL AMERICANS VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- On October 15th, Palestinian terrorists attacked an American diplomatic convoy in Gaza. The bombing killed three Americans and wounded a fourth. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher expressed U.S. outrage over the attack
  • MIDEAST PEACE VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- After more than three years of raging violence between Israel and the Palestinians some Middle East specialists are saying now is not the time for the United States and other countries to revive the peace process. In a conflict that has killed nearly 25 hundred Palestinians and more than 800 Israelis, these analysts say the continuing bloodshed has overwhelmed the proposed road map to peace and jeopardized all efforts to stop the carnage.
  • ISRAEL / SHARON VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would not be a good idea, despite the fact that he deems Mr. Arafat the main obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr. Sharon made the comments in an interview published Friday in the Jerusalem Post newspaper.

  • Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process under 'stress', UN envoy says, urging calm UN News Centre 17 Oct 2003 -- The top United Nations envoy for Ethiopia and Eritrea today said the peace process is under stress, appealing to the local press corps to mute the "noisy beating" of war drums and urging general calm.
  • ETHIOPIA/BORDER DISPUTE VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Tension is rising in the Horn of Africa in the wake of renewed warnings by Ethiopia that the country will not bow to international pressure to accept a ruling made last year by an independent border commission. The ruling gave the hotly contested border town of Badme to rival Eritrea.
  • ETHIOPIA/BORDER DISPUTE VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Tension is rising in the Horn of Africa in the wake of renewed warnings by Ethiopia that the country will not bow to international pressure to accept a three- year-old ruling by an independent border commission. The ruling gave the hotly contested border town of Badme to rival Eritrea.
  • ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Eritrea says Meles' remarks "disdainful" IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- Eritrea has accused Ethiopia of "disdain" following Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's latest comments about the ruling on the common border between the countries.
  • ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: US congressmen call for border demarcation IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- Ethiopia came under fire from US congressmen on Thursday pressing for economic aid to be suspended because of delays in implementation of the border ruling with Eritrea.

  • Liberia hands over weapons to UN peacekeepers UN News Centre 17 Oct 2003 -- The former President of Liberia, Moses Blah, has turned over to United Nations troops a large quantity of arms, saying "we do not want to fight anymore," according to a UN dispatch from the capital Monrovia.
  • LIBERIA: Protest against re-appointment of Daniel Chea as defence minister IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- More than 150 Liberian government soldiers staged a protest demonstration on Friday against the re-appointment of Daniel Chea as Defence Minister in the new broad-based transitional government, claiming he owed them more than two years of pay arrears.

  • SUDAN: Peace negotiations "hit rock", says negotiator IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- Peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) taking place in Naivasha Kenya have "hit a rock", according to Malik Agar Eyre, SPLM commander and Governor of Southern Blue Nile region.
  • SUDAN: Darfur rebels keen to extend ceasefire IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) rebel group operating in Darfur, western Sudan, says it is keen to extend a ceasefire agreement with the Sudanese government.

  • Militants .strike Mufti residence in Jammu and Kashmir, one BSF killed IRNA 17 Oct 2003 -- Militants on Friday attacked the residence of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at high security Maulana Azad road in Srinagar, killing one Border Security Force (BSF) personnel.
  • INDIA / KASHMIR VIOLENCE VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- In Indian Kashmir, suspected Muslim militants have killed two soldiers in an attack outside the residence of the state's top elected official. India has blamed the attack on a Pakistan-backed group.

  • INDIA / HINDU RALLY VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in the Indian city of Ayodhya, on Friday. The protesters were Hindus marching to defy a ban on rallies in the city, which is the home of a holy site claimed by both Hindus and Muslims and a source of violent disputes.
  • ANGOLA: Appeal for recovery to be launched soon IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- The United Nations is to appeal for US $254 million to help Angola recover from its decades of civil war.
  • COTE D'IVOIRE: Government bans demonstrations for three months, disbands youth group IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- The government of Cote d'Ivoire has banned public marches and demonstrations for three months to try and cool heads as it tries to persuade rebels occupying the north of the country to resume their seats in the cabinet and start to disarm.
  • DRC: Kabila orders ex-FAR and Interahamwe out of country IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has said it will no longer tolerate the presence on its national territory of elements of the Rwandan former army (ex-FAR) and Rwandan Hutu former militias (Interahamwe) who fled their country into neighbouring DRC after playing a major role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
  • CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: National talks end, follow-up team established IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- The national reconciliation talks in the Central African Republic (CAR) ended on Thursday in the capital, Bangui, with the completion of the final report and the setting up of a team to oversee implementation of the recommendations made, the chairman of the talks, Isaac Zokoe, told IRIN on Friday.
  • CONGO: Fighting between army and rebels leaves at least 13 dead in Mindouli IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- At least 13 people were killed on Wednesday in Mindouli, in the southwest of the Pool region of the Republic of Congo, when a gunfight erupted between the army and "Ninja" militiamen, government spokesman Alain Akouala Atipault said at a news conference.

News Reports

  • SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 17 Oct 2003 -- EU narrows differences on defence after U.S. row / Iraqi foreign minister welcomes UN resolution / U.S. defense officials expect to call up more reserve support troops for Iraq duty next year¨ / U.S. Marine unit goes ashore in southern Iraq to aid anti-smuggling effort
  • SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 17 Oct 2003 -- EU reportedly agrees on defense policy to complement NATO / Slovene government adopts NATO host nation support plan / Estonia sees need to simplify defense command structure

  • U.S. Official Outlines Measures to Inhibit Illegal Travel to Cuba Washington File 17 Oct 2003 -- Although "illegal travel to Cuba -- especially tourist travel -- may seem harmless, it is in fact an important source of revenue" for the regime of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, says R. Richard Newcomb, director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
  • Internationalization Strategy on Track for Iraq, U.S. Says Washington File 17 Oct 2003 -- White House Report, October 17: Iraq, Gaza attack
  • POWELL-APEC-BURMA VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, in Bangkok for preparatory meetings for Monday's APEC summit of Pacific-rim nations, is calling on Southeast Asian countries to secure democracy in Burma and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
  • CYPRUS / OPPOSITION VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Turkish Cypriots are growing increasingly disenchanted with the leadership of President Rauf Denktash and, after 17 years of his rule, are taking their defiance to the streets. Their latest grievance is the government's decision to speed up the naturalization of incoming mainland Turks, which many here see as Mr. Denktash's way of bolstering the number of supporters for his hard-line policies.
  • IVORY COAST / ROADBLOCKS VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- In the southern commercial capital of Ivory Coast, Abidjan, road checkpoints set up by police and the military are multiplying. The official reason for them is stepped-up security, but the roadblocks serve as little more than collection points for corrupt police.
  • O-I-C WRAP VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Leaders of the world's Muslim nations are calling for unity to face what they say is a backlash against Muslims because of international terrorism and to better address the on-going Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, or O-I-C, issued the call at the end of a two-day summit in Malaysia
  • Afghanistan: The Snow Leopards And Sacred Cave Of Ajar Canyon RFE/RL 17 Oct 2003 -- The Ajar Canyon, deep in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush range, was once the hunting estate of former King Mohammed Zahir. Although the area was declared a national wildlife reserve in 1977, it remained largely forgotten amid the Soviet invasion, civil wars, and the Taliban regime.
  • SWAZILAND/ELECTION VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Voters in Swaziland go to the polls Saturday for parliamentary elections. It is likely to be the last election held there without a constitution. The tiny, landlocked country is the only absolute monarchy in sub-Saharan Africa, and is under pressure to democratize.
  • O-I-C SUMMIT VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- Leaders of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference are wrapping up a summit in Malaysia that is expected to condemn Israel's recent strikes against Syria and the Palestinian territories. But the day is being overshadowed by international criticism of summit chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who made controversial remarks about Jews on Thursday.
  • IVORY COAST/PROTESTS VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- The reconciliation government in Ivory Coast has banned protest marches until next year and made other changes in an attempt to reduce tensions amid a faltering peace process. The action comes nearly a week after pro-government militias went on a rampage in the commercial capital, Abidjan.
  • EDITORIAL: CUBA WILL SOON BE FREE VOA 17 Oct 2003 -- The United States has tried repeatedly to improve relations with Cuba's Communist dictator Fidel Castro. The U.S. has offered to ease trade and travel restrictions if the Cuban government enacted political and economic reforms. But as President George W. Bush said, Castro has responded to these offers with "a new round of oppression that outraged the world's conscience."
  • CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap IRIN 17 Oct 2003 -- Relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan took a downturn this week following several incidents on their common border. On Thursday, Bishkek expressed "deep concern" over Tashkent's decision to drop an official inquiry into the killing of a Kyrgyz citizen by Uzbek border guards last July.



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