Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• PARATROOPERS UNDER V CORPS COMMAND TAKE ON RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS IN BAGHDAD V Corps Release 24 Oct 2003-- Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division's Task Force Falcon, one of several brigade combat teams attached to V Corps's 1st Armored Division, are working to eliminate former regime loyalists and extremists hostile toward coalition forces.
• Number of Incidents in Iraq Up, Officials Say AFPS 24 Oct 2003 -- With new attacks in Iraq today, four soldiers have been killed in enemy attacks and two others have died there of other causes since Oct. 22, U.S. Central Command officials said. Four other soldiers were wounded.
• Iraq Progress Continues, But More Work Ahead, Official Says AFPS 24 Oct 2003 -- U.S. and coalition forces are "an amazing group" that is "doing a magnificent job," enduring hardships and risks as they continue to make steady progress in Iraq, a senior defense official said.
• Commander Says Quality of Life Improving for Troops in Iraq AFPS 24 Oct 2003 -- U.S. soldiers in Iraq are focused, dedicated and committed to accomplishing their mission, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters in Baghdad this week.

• Deadline to Pak tribes to hand over wanted Al-Qaeda men IRNA 24 Oct 2003 -- The local administration in Pakistan`s tribal areas has given a three-day deadline to the tribes to hand over suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban men, local press reported Friday.
• German .Parliament okays expanding troop operations in Afghanistan IRNA 24 Oct 2003 -- German Parliament approved extending the German troop contingent of the International Security and Assistance Force`s (ISAF) mandate beyond Kabul.
• Key causes of insecurity remain in Afghanistan, top UN official says UN News Centre 24 Oct 2003 -- The United Nations' top peacekeeping official told the UN Security Council today the many of the fundamental causes of insecurity in Afghanistan "remain unresolved."
• U.S. Government Agency Grants $3 Million to Build Afghan Homes Washington File 24 Oct 2003 -- The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is providing a $3 million loan to a Virginia-based company, AFCO International, to construct more than 2,500 homes near the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, according to an October 23 OPIC press release.
• Afghanistan needs people to hold pens not guns, UN envoy tells ex-soldiers UN News Centre 24 Oct 2003 -- Some 1,000 former combatants, marching without their rifles thanks to a United Nations disarmament programme, paraded in front of Afghan President Hamid Karzai today, in what he called "one of the best days in Afghanistan," according to a UN dispatch from the capital Kabul.
• Airmen Keep Things Moving in Kyrgyzstan AFPS 24 Oct 2003 -- A few hundred kilometers north of Afghanistan, in the small country of Kyrgyzstan, is Manas Air Base, where airmen are doing their part to ensure coalition service members can maintain the fight on the front lines of the war on terrorism.
• AFGHAN/TALEBAN VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has embarked on a campaign to woo moderate members of the former Taleban regime into the political process. The former Taleban foreign minister of Afghanistan is reported to have joined that effort.
• Afghanistan: HRW Urges Karzai To Enshrine Rights Protections In Draft Constitution RFE/RL 24 Oct 2003 -- The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sent a private letter to Afghanistan's Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai, asking him to incorporate strong human rights protections into the country's draft constitution.

Defense Policy / Programs

• USS Samuel B. Roberts Yields First Drug Bust Navy Newsstand 24 Oct 2003-- Innovative tactics, vigilant watch standing, a concerted team effort, and patience proved to be virtues aboard USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) during her first drug bust. Teaming up with Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 401 and Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 44 Detachment 7, the frigate, commanded by Cmdr. Michael A. Hall, recently seized a large cache of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific.
• Military Works On Faster, All-Digital Targeting System AFPS 24 Oct 2003 -- The U.S. military is developing an advanced communications capability for tactical fighters that will tightly connect the sensors and cockpits of many aircraft.
• U.S.: Rumsfeld Says War On Terrorism Not Just Pentagon's Responsibility RFE/RL 24 Oct 2003 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday strongly defended the contents of a Pentagon memo in which he asks his top aides whether the United States is actually winning its global war on terror. Rumsfeld says his questions in the memo were simply aimed at stimulating creative thinking in the government. But critics accuse Rumsfeld of seeking to deflect blame for mishaps in Iraq, where attacks on U.S. forces are on the rise.
• MSSG-22 builds camp for 'displaced' persons during PMINT Marine Corps News 24 Oct 2003-- One of the many missions a deployed Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) may be assigned is to provide humanitarian assistance (HA) to those in need. Recent examples where MEUs have conducted large-scale humanitarian missions are in Iraq after both Operations DESERT STORM (1991) and IRAQI FREEDOM (2002), earthquake-ravaged Turkey in 1999, and East Timor.

• PAX CHINA VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- China's growing influence in Asia was on display during a series of regional gatherings this month. Experts say China's rising power profile could threaten the United States' long-time dominance in this part of the world.

• Pakistan, Turkey agree on joint defence production IRNA 24 Oct 2003 -- Pakistan and Turkey have agreed to embark o joint ventures in defence production, officials have said.

• US not to sell `offensive` arms to Pakistan: report IRNA 24 Oct 2003 -- The United States has refused to sell any weapons system to Pakistan fearing it might refuel arms race in the region but is working hard to convince India to open its market to the latest US war machines, local press reported Friday.

Defense Industry

• General Dynamics Receives $49 Million Contract for Gun Mount Systems General Dynamics 24 Oct 2003 -- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has received a $49 million contract from the Boeing Company, Chicago, Ill., to produce the Trainable Gun Mount System (TGMS) for the AC-130U Force Structure Enhancement Program. The contract extends through 2005.
• General Dynamics Awarded $100M Contract Modification for TRIDENT and SSGN Systems General Dynamics 24 Oct 2003 -- The U. S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), a $100,098,000 modification under a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to provide for the fiscal year 2004 TRIDENT II fire control omnibus contract. Work will be performed in Pittsfield, Mass., and is expected to be completed by December 2006.
• First Public Live-Firing Demonstration of General Dynamics NZLAV a Success General Dynamics 24 Oct 2003 -- At a ceremony here today, the New Zealand Minister of Defence, Hon. Mark Burton, officially accepted the NZLAV (Light Armoured Vehicle) from Canadian manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada.
• U.S. Army Awards Northrop Grumman Radar Contract For Air National Guard C-130H Aircraft Northrop Grumman 24 Oct 2003 -- The U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) a contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with 25 AN/APN-241 navigation and weather radars designed to enhance flying safety for Air National Guard C-130H tactical airlift aircraft.

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 24 Oct 2003
• BURUNDI: Parliament approves power-sharing deal IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- Burundi's Parliament has approved the power sharing agreement signed on 8 October between the transitional government and the country's largest rebel group, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces de defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) led by Pierre Nkurunziza, the Burundian news agency, ABP, reported.
• BURUNDI: Rebels assemble ahead of cantonment IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- Burundi's main rebel faction has assembled at least 1,000 of its fighters on a hill near the southern border with Tanzania, ahead of their cantonment in line with a ceasefire agreement signed with the government, a local human rights body, Iteka, reported on Thursday.
• Bush Administration Pursues Four-Part Middle East Policy Washington File 24 Oct 2003 -- The United States has large foreign policy goals for the Middle East, including Israeli-Palestinian peace, a free Iraq, the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and the establishment of a Free Trade Area, according to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- At least one Palestinian gunman infiltrated a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip in the early morning hours Friday, killing three Israeli soldiers and wounding two others. Members of the militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas have claimed joint responsibility for the attack.

• Annan says UN will team with regional group on peacemaking in Somalia, Sudan UN News Centre 24 Oct 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today offered the world body's collaboration with East Africa's Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), meeting to focus on its quest for peace in Somalia and the Sudan, and said the Security Council would investigate violations of the arms embargo against Sudan.
• SUDAN-SOMALIA: IGAD delegates praise Sudan, raise concerns over Somalia IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- The annual Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) conference, involving six heads of state from East Africa, opened on Friday with universal praise for Sudan’s new peace efforts, and hopes expressed that Somalia will soon follow suite.
• India`s Assam threatens military action against tribal separatists IRNA 24 Oct 2003 -- The provincial government in India`s north eastern state of Assam Friday threatened military action against a frontline tribal separatist group in the region for violating a ceasefire.
• India, China begin talks on border issue IRNA 24 Oct 2003 -- Four months after being appointed as Special Representatives to address the 4060-km long contentious border dispute, the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister, Dai Bingguo, and India`s National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra, held their first-ever meeting Thursday.
• INDIA / KASHMIR VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- The Indian government says it is willing to be flexible to find an end to the Kashmir dispute. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani suggested Friday that the government would be willing to consider giving the disputed region more power to govern itself.
• UN officials assess conditions in Liberia's second city UN News Centre 24 Oct 2003 -- An inter-agency United Nations mission team has travelled to Liberia's second city, Buchanan, to assess the humanitarian situation there and make recommendations about future actions.
• ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Camp for Somali refugees to be closed IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- An Ethiopian camp for Somali refugees - once the largest of its kind in the world - will close by the end of the year, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It said in a statement on Friday that the closure of Hartishek camp, located in a semiarid area near the border with Somalia – would bring to an end "one of world's most tragic refugee cases".
• SUDAN-UGANDA: UN urges donors to pledge funds for reconstruction IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- The UN will do its utmost to support the rebuilding of Sudan once a peace deal has been signed, said Mohamed Sahnoun, the special adviser to the UN Secretary-General, on Friday.
• DRC: IRIN interview with Eugene Serufuli, governor of North Kivu Province IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- The national unity government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced a major roads and infrastructure rehabilitation programme on Monday, known as the Multi-sectoral Emergency Programme for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (PMURR). [see earlier IRIN story, "Kinshasa launches major infrastructure rehabilitation programme"]

News Reports

• SHAPE News Morning Update SHAPE 24 Oct 2003 -- NATO chief urges Turkey to send troops to Iraq, contribute more support to Afghanistan / New NATO center opens in western Norway / Belgium rules out sending troops to Iraq, plans to help Germans in Afghanistan / EU parliament backs European defence planning HQ / Algerian insurgent group openly declares allegiance to al-Qaida
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 24 Oct 2003 -- Prime Minister Blair insists Europe must have own defense / Mladic eludes police swoop

• UN will change way of 'doing business' in wake of Iraq security report - Annan UN News Centre 24 Oct 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today the world body "will have to change our way of doing business" after a report earlier this week criticized the UN for failing to protect the workers killed in a bomb explosion last August in Baghdad.

• OIC SUMMIT: THE ISLAMIC WORLD NEEDS UNITY, CHANGE US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign media Reaction October 24, 2003
• ZIMBABWE / MEDIA VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- A Zimbabwe court has ordered the government to grant a license to the country's only independent daily newspaper, which authorities closed six weeks ago. But government officials say they will appeal.
• MADAME CHIANG DIES VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- Soong Mayling, widow of the late Taiwan leader Chiang Kai-shek, has died in her New York home at the age of 106.
• IVORY COAST / JOURNALIST VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- Ivory Coast has fired the police chief, after a police officer shot and killed a French radio reporter.
• ETHIOPIA/REFUGEES VOA 24 Oct 2003 -- The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R, says it is close to shutting down the Hartisheik refugee camp in eastern Ethiopia. Hartisheik was once the biggest refugee camp in the world, at one time housing 600-thousand Somalis.
• CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- Dominating the news this week, are the more than 800 people infected with typhoid in what appears to be one of the largest such incidences to strike Tajikistan in years. "The numbers keep rising, and we are expecting it to go over 1,000," Paul Handley, the officer-in-charge of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the capital, Dushanbe, told IRIN on Thursday, noting, however, that assistance, both international and local, had been put in place. Some experts said that the reason for the typhoid outbreak in the capital city was pollution in the Varzob river, one of Dushanbe's main water sources, caused by recent rains.
• BURKINA FASO: 16 alleged coup plotters to be tried by military court IRIN 24 Oct 2003 -- Sixteen people arrested in Burkina Faso for planning an alleged coup against President Blaise Campaore are to be charged before a military tribunal for "conspiracy against state security," the government said on Friday.
• EADS announces signature of the £ 2.5 bn (€ 3.6 bn) Skynet 5 contract with UK MoD EADS 24 Oct 2003 -- EADS subsidiary Paradigm Secure Communications Limited has signed the £ 2.5bn (€ 3.6 bn) Skynet 5 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).
• ATK Successfully Conducts First Five-Segment Space Shuttle Motor Test ATK 24 Oct 2003 -- ATK (Alliant Techsystems) (NYSE:ATK) yesterday successfully conducted the first static test firing of a five-segment Space Shuttle reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM).