Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• IRAQ / BOMBS VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Iraqi police say they foiled two possible bombings in Baghdad.
• PENTAGON / TERRORISM VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has strongly reiterated the Bush administration's view that the only way to combat terrorists is to take the war directly to them overseas.
• Leaked Terror Memo Meant As Starting Point AFPS 24 Oct 2003 -- The "global war on terrorism memo" dominated a press conference at the Pentagon today.
• Rumsfeld Says Memo Meant to Make People Think AFPS 23 Oct 2003 -- The Oct. 16 memo Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld wrote to defense leaders was aimed at getting people to think beyond day-to-day tasks and answer basic questions about the global war on terrorism and the department's roles, Rumsfeld said here Oct. 22.
• Transcript: DoD News Briefing-Secretary Rumsfeld, Mr Dirita and Lt. Gen. Schwartz 23 Oct 2003 -- Participating was Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Lawrence Dirita, Acting Assistant Secretary Of Defense for Public Affairs; Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, Director For Operations, J-3, Joint Staf
• U.S.: Analysts Say Rumsfeld Memo Suggests Shift In War On Terror RFE/RL 23 Oct 2003 -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, a man usually brimming with confidence and a driving force behind the Iraq war, appears to have acknowledged for the first time that Washington may be fighting its war on terrorism in the wrong way.

• Airmen at Bagram Move From Tents to Huts AFPS 23 Oct 2003 -- Airmen here are moving from their temper tents into wooden structures called B-huts.
• UN to launch disarmament programme Friday in Afghanistan UN News Centre 23 Oct 2003 -- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is set to officially launch tomorrow a disarmament campaign that has already had some measure of success.
• Afghanistan: ISAF Commander Says Heavy Weapons Must Be Removed from Kabul RFE/RL 23 Oct 2003 -- The commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan this week called for the removal of heavy weapons from Kabul in comments seen as directed toward the Afghan defense minister and his mostly ethnic Tajik faction. The ISAF commander also is warning of security threats in the capital from what he termed a "new species" of well-trained international terrorists.
• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 2, Number 37 23 Oct 2003 -- MASUD SHARES HIS VIEWS ON CONSTITUTION AND A NATIONAL AGENDA FOR AFGHANISTAN / TOP NATO COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN CALLS FOR DEMILITARIZATION OF KABUL / COMMANDER SAYS PROVINCIAL INSTABILITY COULD SPREAD TO KABUL / AID GROUP WELCOMES EXPANSION OF ISAF, QUESTIONS RECONSTRUCTION SYSTEM / NORTHERN PROVINCE REPORTEDLY DISAPPOINTED WITH RECONSTRUCTION TEAM / BELGIUM MIGHT CONTRIBUTE TROOPS TO KONDUZ RECONSTRUCTION TEAM... / ...AND FINLAND EXPECTS TO SEND ADDITIONAL FORCES TO AFGHANISTAN / UN LAUNCHES LONG-DELAYED DISARMAMENT PROGRAM / JAMIAT-E ISLAMI COMMANDER VOWS TO DEFEND 'OUR PEOPLE.' / POLICE REPORTEDLY BRINGING STABILITY TO NORTH / SIX KILLED, EIGHT INJURED IN ROADSIDE BLASTS / NEO-TALIBAN COMMANDER REPORTEDLY CAPTURED / GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS RELEASE OF FORMER TALIBAN FOREIGN MINISTER... / ...REVERSING PREVIOUS DENIALS... / ...BUT DOUBTS REMAIN OVER RELEASE OF FORMER TALIBAN FOREIGN MINISTER... / ...WHO HAS REPORTEDLY OFFERED TO COOPERATE WITH AFGHAN ADMINISTRATION... / ...LEADING TO FURTHER DENIALS BY THE AFGHAN ADMINISTRATION / PAKISTAN AGAIN ACCUSES INDIA OF OPERATING 'TERRORIST CAMPS' INSIDE AFGHANISTAN... / ...WHICH IS REJECTED BY AFGHAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / SEMINAR IN PESHAWAR DENOUNCES 'DURAND LINE.' / AFGHANS FACE COMMUNIST-ERA ATROCITIES / KIDNAPPED AFGHAN CHILDREN TO RETURN HOME FROM SAUDI ARABIA... / ...ARRIVE TO AN ORPHANAGE IN KABUL / NEW AFGHAN POLITICAL PARTY FORMED / AFGHAN FILM 'OSAMA' WINS CANADIAN AWARD / THE SNOW LEOPARDS AND SACRED CAVE OF AJAR CANYON / CLARIFICATION / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY

Defense Policy / Programs

• Rumsfeld: Multi-Prong Attack Needed to Reduce Number of Terrorists Washington File 23 Oct 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says free people are unable to defend against terrorist attack "at every place, at every moment of the day or night, against every conceivable type of technique" because the advantage of taking the offense resides with the terrorists.
• DoD Announces Radio Frequency Identification Policy 23 Oct 2003 -- The Department of Defense announced today the establishment of a Radio Frequency Identification Policy (RFID). RFID technology greatly improves the management of inventory by providing hands-off processing. The equipment quickly accounts for and identifies massive inventories, enhancing the processing of materiel transactions to allow DoD to realign resources and streamline business processes.
• Rumsfeld Remembers Lessons of Marine Barracks Bombing AFPS 23 Oct 2003 -- Twenty years ago, a suicide bomber drove a truck into the Marine Barracks at the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. When the explosion cleared, 241 Marines and sailors were dead.
• 31st MEU qualifies special operations capability Marine Corps News 23 Oct 2003-- Marines and Sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have proven themselves to be the premier force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region, as the unit sets sail after its recent Special Operations Capable certification.
• 31st MEU qualifies special operations capability Marine Corps News 23 Oct 2003-- Marines and Sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have proven themselves to be the premier force in readiness in the Asia-Pacific region, as the unit sets sail after its recent Special Operations Capable certification.
• "Death from below"... 1st Stinger Battery defends the skies Marine Corps News 23 Oct 2003-- Whether it is an airfield, a ground unit, a command post or a location deemed of significant importance, all are susceptible to an aerial threat during real world contingencies and must be protected from attacks.
• WASP ESG/22d MEU makes history during recent exercise Marine Corps News 23 Oct 2003-- For the first time aboard Camp Lejeune, a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has simultaneously conducted Naval gunfire missions with the introduction of forces ashore from ships at sea.

• BUSH / AUSTRALIA PROTESTS VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- President Bush has met by protesters inside and outside Australia's Parliament. Thousands of people gathered to denounce Australia's involvement in the invasion of Iraq.
• BUSH / HAWAII VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- President Bush is following his six-nation tour of Asia with a stop in Hawaii to raise money for next year's presidential election.
• INDONESIA U-S VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- President Bush promised to hand over one of Southeast Asia's most notorious terrorists to Indonesia after the United States finishes interrogating him. Riduan Isamudin, better known as Hamabali, was taken into U-S custody in August after being captured in Thailand. This is another step in the Bush administration's attempt to show Indonesia that the United States has confidence in its battle against terrorism in the region.
• Mechanics demonstrate necessity is the mother of invention Army News Service 23 Oct 2003-- Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have modified the current M-6 gun mount and contracted with local businesses to build 1,392 mounts that will hold the crew-served machine guns the division uses.
• No segregation in treatment at Fort Stewart Army News Service 23 Oct 2003-- Many of the mobilized Reservist and National Guard Soldiers on medical hold have made their voices heard about the medical treatment they have received on active duty and the barracks they live in.
• Last Carrier Strike Group Returns Home From Combat Operations Navy Newsstand 23 Oct 2003-- The last Carrier Strike Group (CSG) from the combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom is returning home. The Nimitz CSG is scheduled to return to its homeport of San Diego Nov. 5, following a highly successful eight-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
• Battle Cat Warriors Complete Trials Navy Newsstand 23 Oct 2003-- USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) returned to its forward deployed port here Oct. 23, after completing a 10-day sea trials period in the western Pacific Ocean.
• First Raptor squadron announced AFPN 23 Oct 2003-- The 27th Fighter Squadron will be the first of three squadrons here to transition to the F/A-22 Raptor. The Air Force's newest fighter begins arriving in late 2004, said Col. Frank Gorenc, 1st Fighter Wing commander.
• Robins C-141 maintenance era ends AFPN 23 Oct 2003-- Thirty years of C-141 Starlifter programmed depot maintenance ended here Oct. 16 as the final aircraft left the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center. Starlifters are headed for retirement in 2006.

• Speech by NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson NATO 23 Oct 2003 -- "And it is always a pleasure to visit Turkey - a key NATO nation at the crossroads of Europe and the Wider Middle East. Today, that crossroads is as busy and important as it has ever been. Because during the past decade, and especially in the past two years or so, our strategic environment has changed fundamentally."
• Burns Outlines NATO's Future in the Greater Middle East Washington File 23 Oct 2003 -- "NATO's future is to deter crises and to respond to crises -- whether it's a combat mission or a hostage rescue mission or a peacekeeping operation in that arc of countries where we assume and believe the great majority of threats... will come from," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns told a conference in Prague October 19.

Defense Industry

• Slovakia National IFF Upgrade Awarded To BAE SYSTEMS BAE Systems 23 Oct 2003 -- The Republic of Slovakia has signed a contract with BAE Systems to upgrade its national Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system.
• Boeing Joint Common Missile Flight Test Successful Boeing 23 Oct 2003 -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today demonstrated key components of the Joint Common Missile with a successful flight test at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz.
• EADS NORTH AMERICA OPENS A400M MILITARY TRANSPORT PROGRAM TO PARTICIPATION OF U.S. SUPPLIERS EADS 23 Oct 2003 -- The A400M multi-role military transport aircraft being developed by EADS has been opened to competitive-based participation by U.S. industry - creating significant new transatlantic business opportunities for American hardware, equipment and systems suppliers.
• General Dynamics Awarded $23 Million Contract for UK Astute-Class Submarine Work General Dynamics 23 Oct 2003 -- General Dynamics Electric Boat has received a $23 million contract modification to provide design assistance in the development and production of the Astute-class nuclear attack submarine for the Royal Navy. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
• Northrop Grumman Awarded $260 Million in Contracts Supporting U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems Development Northrop Grumman 23 Oct 2003 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Mission Systems sector has been awarded two prime and two subcontractor contracts totaling $260 million to support development of the U.S. Army's Future Combat System (FCS) program.

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 23 Oct 2003
• ISRAEL / MISSILES VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Israel's air raids into populated civilian areas of the Gaza Strip against suspected Palestinian militants this week have stirred an emotional debate. Palestinian leaders have condemned the raids, but Israel says they are justified in the name of security.
• PALESTINIANS/EXECUTIONS VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Masked Palestinians executed two men and put their bodies on display in a public square in the West Bank today, saying they had collaborated with Israel. The men were kidnapped and interrogated by two militant Palestinian groups that say the men provided intelligence to Israel about their organizations.

• "Let's Not Miss This Opportunity," Powell Says of Imminent Sudan Peace Washington File 23 Oct 2003 -- "After 30 years of the most horrible warfare, and with the loss of two million lives, now that we've come this far, let's finish it. ... Let's not miss this opportunity," Secretary of State Powell said, rallying the parties to the Sudan peace process in Nairobi, Kenya, October 21.
• SUDAN: Government denies downplaying importance of end-of-year peace date IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- The Sudanese government on Thursday said it is committed to finding a peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) by the end of the year, contrary to media reports.
• SUDAN: Rising numbers of displaced in Darfur IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, has displaced over half a million people since March, in addition to 70,000 who have fled across the border to eastern Chad, according to the UN.
• LIBERIA: Bryant rejects three LURD nominees to government posts IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Gyude Bryant, the head of Liberia's power-sharing transitional government, has rejected three nominees for top posts in his administration put forward by the LURD rebel movement.
• LIBERIA: MODEL says Taylor's men burn villages IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Liberia's MODEL rebel movement has accused fighters loyal to former president Charles Taylor of burning down villages in Grand Bassa county in central Liberia last week and attacking a motorcade carrying its leader Thomas Nimely.
• DRC: Deadline extended for Ituri militias on cantonment details IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- The deadline for militias in the northeastern district of Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to provide technical information regarding their numbers and locations, for their cantonment, has been extended until 23 October, the UN mission in the country, known as MONUC, reported on Wednesday.
• DRC: 20 mt of food due to reach eastern town IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- A humanitarian convoy delivering 20 mt of food to vulnerable people in the eastern town of Kamituga, South Kivu Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is due to reach its destination on Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.
• DRC: Rights group renews call for justice in Ankoro massacres IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- A human rights NGO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has called for the resumption of investigations and trials of those responsible for the November 2002 massacres of civilians in the town of Ankoro, in northern Katanga Province.
• Central African countries will review regional security next week - UN UN News Centre 23 Oct 2003 -- Defence, Foreign and Interior Ministers from 11 Central African countries will meet in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, next week to review regional security, the United Nations said today.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Ex-soldiers integrated into national army IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- A total of 480 out of 800 former soldiers who recently returned from exile to the Central African Republic (CAR) have been integrated in the army and the public service, Communications Minister Parfait Mbaye told IRIN on Wednesday.
• PRESS BRIEFING BY FOURTH COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN United Nations 23 Oct 2003
• HAGUE TRIAL VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- The last prime minster of pre-war Yugoslavia, Ante Markovic, has accused Slobodan Milosevic of fomenting war in the Balkans. Breaking a 12-year silence, Mr. Markovic told war crimes judges in The Hague that Mr. Milosevic, who was president of Serbia when the war started, was intent on destroying Bosnia.
• DUBROVKA ANNIVERSARY VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Russians are observing the first anniversary of the Dubrovka theater hostage-taking by Chechen rebels that ended in the death of 130 people. A monument to the victims was unveiled in front of the theater.
• ACEH / CONVICTIONS VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Mediators for Indonesia's separatist Aceh Province say they are concerned about this week's convictions of five rebel leaders for treason. The five men were arrested in May as they were about to depart Aceh for peace talks.
• DRC-UGANDA: Minister confirms presence of Ugandan rebel groups in east IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Mbusa Nyamwisi, the minister for regional cooperation in the two-year transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has confirmed reports of the presence of Ugandan rebel training camps in his country's northeastern North Kivu Province, in the region between Beni and Kasindi.
• NIGERIA: Fresh violence threatens fragile truce in Niger delta IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Fresh ethnic clashes around the Nigerian oil town of Warri have claimed several lives over the past week, threatening a fragile ceasefire secured between rival tribal militias in the troubled Niger Delta, residents said on Thursday.
• GHANA: Dagbon state of emergency and curfew relaxed IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Ghanaian President John Kufuor has said the government will not renew a two-year state of emergency and curfew in four districts of the strife-torn northern Ghanaian Dagbon traditional area.
• DRC-RWANDA: Kigali to probe allegations of plunder of Congo's resources IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- Rwanda’s foreign minister, Charles Muligande, announced on Wednesday that his government would set up a commission of inquiry to investigate two cases of alleged illegal exploitation of the Democratic Republic of Congo's natural resources by Rwandan companies and individuals.
• ANGOLA: WFP forced to cut food rations by half IRIN 23 Oct 2003 -- The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday that shipping delays had forced it to slash by half the amount of food earmarked for distribution to 2.2 million vulnerable Angolans this month.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 23 Oct 2003 -- NATO's Lord Robertson asks Greece for more troops in Afghanistan / Many Turks relieved that Iraqi opposition keeping Turkish troops out / Serbia and Montenegro's military condemns new war crimes indictments / Kosovo general wanted in Serbia, freed in Slovenia / France tests response to chemical weapons attack
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 23 Oct 2003 -- Greece turns down request on helicopters for ISAF to keep troops for Olympics / Report: In Turkey, Lord Robertson to seek further contribution to NRF / Russian Condor heavy cargo aircraft may be used for NATO airlifts / "Bomspotters" demonstration-continued / Serb police launch Mladic search / Austrian parliament votes to extend its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo / Bio-terrorism exercise shows security flaws

• State Department Briefing, October 23, 2003 Washington File 23 Oct 2003 -- Israel/Palestinians, North Korea, Liberia, Iraq, Cyprus, Venezuela, Colombia, Saudi Arabia
• ZIMBABWE / HUMAN RIGHTS / FOOD VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- A prominent international human rights monitoring group says international relief agencies are failing to prevent Zimbabwe's government from using food as a political weapon.
• CONGRESS/CUBA VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Republican-led Senate joined the House of Representatives in approving a measure aimed at easing restrictions on U-S travel to Cuba.
• Five new non-permanent members elected to Security Council UN News Centre 23 Oct 2003 -- Algeria, Benin, Brazil, the Philippines and Romania were elected today to become the next five non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
• UN committee head calls for continued work on decolonizing last 16 territories UN News Centre 23 Oct 2003 -- Despite difficulties in implementing proposed solutions for the question of whether the Western Sahara territory should become independent or not, a political solution was still possible, the chairman of the General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization Committee said today.
• SAUDI / PROTEST VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Police in Saudi Arabia have arrested at least 50 people who tried to demonstrate for reform and the release of political prisoners. A London-based Saudi opposition group called for demonstrations in nine cities, but police prevented most of them.
• UN: World Body Wins Sakharov Prize In Memory Of Slain Iraq Envoy RFE/RL 23 Oct 2003 -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his staff have been awarded the European Union's top human rights prize. The prize was awarded in memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top UN envoy in Iraq who was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad in August.
• ZIMBABWE / FOOD VOA 23 Oct 2003 -- Britain has become the latest country to pledge renewed food aid for Zimbabwe, after the resolution of a dispute with the government over its distribution plan. According to the United Nations, about half of Zimbabwe's people will depend on food aid to survive until the 2004 harvest.
• IVORY COAST / JOURNALIST DEATH VOA 22 Oct 2003 -- The body of journalist Jean Helene, who was shot dead by a policeman in Ivory Coast, has been returned to France for burial. Mr. Helene's killing has prompted national and international condemnation.