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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 02 Aug 2004 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties

• Iraq: Insurgents Target Five Christian Churches RFE/RL 02 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi bombers have hit five Christian churches in the country, killing at least 11 people. Iraqi officials say the well-coordinated attacks, timed to coincide with evening services on Sunday night, aim at further dividing Iraqis along community lines.
• IRAQ / KIDNAPPING VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- A senior Iraqi government official says Iraqi security forces have rescued a Lebanese hostage and captured or killed several of his abductors. The official tells that a preliminary interrogation of one of the suspects indicates he may be part of the al-Qaida-linked group that kidnapped and beheaded a South Korean translator in June.
• Joint Weekend Raids Lead to Arrests in Iraq AFPS 02 Aug 2004 -- A cell leader and a suspected bomb maker were among several insurgents detained during joint operations by Iraqi and U.S. forces over the past 48 hours, Multinational Force Iraq officials announced in news releases today.
• JOINT OPERATIONS IN WESTERN NINEVAH PROVINCE DETAIN 16 CENTCOM 02 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi National Guard soldiers and Multi-National Force Soldiers detained 16 suspected anti-Iraqi force members and numerous weapons and ammunition during an operation in Tall Afar around 5 a.m. Aug 1.
• IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER FOILS CAR BOMB ATTACK IN MOSUL CENTCOM 02 Aug 2004 -- An off-duty Iraqi National Guard soldier identified an unexploded car bomb outside of a church in northeastern Mosul around 10 p.m. Aug 1.
• Iraqi Security Adviser Blames Church Attacks On Al-Zarqawi RFE/RL 02 Aug 2004 -- Iraq's national security adviser said today that Jordanian militant Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi appears to have been responsible for the bombings yesterday of five churches in Iraq that killed at least 10 people.
• Forces In Iraq Arrest Son Of Influential Muslim Scholar RFE/RL 02 Aug 2004 -- U.S. forces today arrested the son of Muthana Harith al-Dhari, the president of Iraq's influential Committee of Muslim Scholars.

• UN mission hails Afghan voter numbers as end to registration drive approaches UN News Centre 02 Aug 2004 -- Afghanistan's voter registration programme will largely finish on 15 August, the country's electoral authorities announced today, as results indicate that more than 90 per cent of the estimated eligible pool of citizens have already enrolled to vote.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transfer of Five Moroccan Detainees Completed 02 Aug 2004 -- The Department of Defense announced today that it transferred five detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the control of the government of Morocco. These detainees are Moroccan nationals.

• Raptor continuing Air Force's air superiority record AFPN 02 Aug 2004 -- With air dominance training under way here, the Air Force's newest asset, the F/A-22 Raptor, is proving its worth every day as it nears initial operational capability.
• Tarawa Completes RIMPAC 2004 Navy News Service 02 Aug 2004 -- With coalitions strengthened and training operations completed, the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1), "The Big T," returned to its homeport in San Diego Aug. 2, after participating in the multinational maritime exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2004.

• Coast Guard Modernization Moves Full Steam Ahead AFPS 02 Aug 2004 -- With the approach of its 214th birthday this week, the U.S. Coast Guard is undergoing the largest and most sweeping modernization in its history, the Coast Guard commandant said during a joint interview with the Pentagon Channel and the American Forces Press Service.
• Cheney Praises Northern Command for Homeland Defense Mission AFPS 02 Aug 2004 -- Vice President Dick Cheney praised the men and women of U.S. Northern Command for making their two-year old command "a disciplined, professional, effective component of the greatest military force in the world."

• State Department Noon Briefing, August 2 Washington File 02 Aug 2004 -- Iraq, Israel/Palestinians, Jordan, South Korea, Sudan, Colombia, North Korea

Defense Industry

• Boeing X-45A Aircraft Fly Together for First Time Boeing 02 Aug 2004 -- Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., home of the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center, where the sound barrier was broken on October 14, 1947 , hosted another aviation milestone on Sunday. The historic event took place as two Boeing [NYSE: BA] X-45A unmanned aircraft, under the control of a single pilot-operator, successfully operated together in a coordinated flight completing the first ever multiple air vehicle control flight demonstration.
• General Dynamics Awarded $19 Million for Modernization of Navy Communications Overseas General Dynamics 02 Aug 2004 -- General Dynamics Network Systems has been awarded a contract to enhance data networks for the Navy at 16 locations around the world. The value of this contract is $19 million.
• ATK Wins $3.4 Million Contract to Supply New York City Police Department With Ammunition ATK 02 Aug 2004 -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) has received a $3.4 million, three-year contract to supply the 38,000-member New York City Police Department (NYPD) with 38 Special Gold Dot Hollow Point ammunition. With this new contract, ATK now provides the NYPD with nearly every round of ammunition it will use in pistols, rifles, and shotguns.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 02 Aug 2004
• Azerbaijan: War-Mongering Or Warning? RFE/RL 02 Aug 2004 -- Over the past two weeks, one former and two current top Azerbaijani officials have again affirmed their collective rejection of international mediators' insistence that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved only on the basis of mutual concessions. Whether those Azerbaijani statements were intended primarily for domestic consumption, or whether and to what extent they should be construed as warnings to the international community not to pressure Azerbaijan too forcefully to agree to concessions that might trigger a major public backlash, is as yet unclear. Meanwhile, two senior U.S. diplomats have made clear that Washington continues to hope for a swift resolution of the conflict.
• UN expert urges Sudan to reject ethnic divisions and provide security UN News Centre 02 Aug 2004 -- Just back from a week-long mission to Sudan's troubled Darfur region - scene of what is considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis - a United Nations rights expert today called for the country to foster a national identity based on inclusiveness and not race, culture or religion.
• CHAD: France provides airlift to eastern Chad, deploys troops to secure border IRIN 02 Aug 2004 -- France has deployed 200 of its troops based in Chad to the country's eastern border to help prevent incursions by Janjawid militia groups from Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
• SUDAN: Government officials unhappy with UN resolution IRIN 02 Aug 2004 -- Sudanese government officials have angrily denounced a resolution passed by the United Nations Security Council on Friday, which demanded that Khartoum disarm Janjawid militias accused of committing atrocities in the western Darfur region within 30 days or face further actions.
• ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS / US VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- The U.S. government is urging Israel to abide by the road map that calls for ending settlements, not expanding them.U.S. officials are also calling on Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian officials to resolve a border closure that has left hundreds of Palestinians stranded.
• SUDAN / EASTERN REBELS VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- Sudanese rebels in the east of the country say pro-Khartoum Janjaweed militiamen, accused of committing atrocities in the Darfur region of western Sudan, are being trained and armed by the government to attack the civilian population in eastern Sudan. The accusation follows a Sudanese government claim that neighboring Eritrea is deeply involved in the crisis in Darfur.
• IVORY COAST / TALKS VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- Ink has barely dried on the Ivory Coast's new peace agreement signed in Ghana last week, but the signatories already disagree on what the document means and how to implement it.
• SUDAN / U.N. RESOLUTION VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- Sudanese army officials on Monday blasted a United Nations resolution giving the Khartoum government 30 days to rein in militia forces that have massacred tens of thousands of black Africans in the country's western Darfur region.
• ISRAEL / SETTLEMENT VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- Israel has given the go-ahead for an expansion of a major Jewish settlement, despite calls from the U.S. administration for a freeze on settlement activity.
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 02 Aug 2004 -- Israeli troops have shot and killed three Palestinians attempting to attack a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. The incident on Monday came as Israeli forces also moved against a refugee camp in the territory in a bid to halt Palestinian mortar fire.
• Islamist Group Denies Role In Uzbek Attacks RFE/RL 02 Aug 2004 -- The Islamist movement Hizb ut-Tahrir today denied any responsibility for the 30 July suicide bomb attacks in the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

News Reports

• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 02 Aug 2004 -- About 90 percent of Afghan electorate registered for milestone October vote / NATO agrees to send training mission to Iraq but sidesteps command issue / Germany won't deploy troops to Iraq whoever wins U.S. election / Greece imposes "no go" areas for Olympic Games / Briton named to head EU Defence Agency / Colin Powell says Bosnia's future at risk while war crimes suspects escape justice / UN weighs quicker shift of power in Kosovo / Police in Moldova break up journalists' sit-in in new clash over press freedom / Iran will not yield to pressure on nuclear energy aspirations
• SHAPE News Summary & Analysis SHAPE 02 Aug 2004 -- NATO effort to bring stability to Iraq rich in symbolism / Afghan defense ministry plans to deploy 16,000 soldiers ahead of elections / Sudan rejects UN resolution on Darfur