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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
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Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• 31 MEU Detains 5 Insurgents in Western Iraq MNF-I/MNC-I 26 Nov 2004 -- Elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit detained five individuals as well as finding a small weapons cache during a raid in the city of Hadithah on the morning of Nov. 26.
• U.S. Troops Find More Bodies In Mosul RFE/RL 26 Nov 2004 -- U.S. troops fighting insurgents in Mosul found another 15 bodies, and a military spokesman said today that the killings are part of a "continued campaign" to spread fear into the public.
• Fallujah Update: Insurgent Chemical/Explosives Weapons Laboratory Multi National Forces-Iraq via Combined Press Information Center 26 Nov 2004 -- "On 23 November 2004, Iraqi and coalition forces discovered an insurgent laboratory in Fallujah including chemicals and equipment necessary to produce rudimentary chemical weapons capable of creating poisonous gases and explosives used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The site may have served as a testing and research area for construction of improvised chemical devices (ICDs) and/or routine production facility for explosives used in IEDs. " [PPT 1.42MB]

Defense Policy / Programs

• Four-legged sentinels key to force protection AFPN 26 Nov 2004 -- Dogs are rarely permitted anywhere these days. Whether it is the grocery store or a crowded rock concert, dogs are often turned away at the door.
• Resultant Fury 05-01 Concludes Navy NewsStand 26 Nov 2004 -- The two-day Navy and Air Force anti-surface warfare exercise Resultant Fury 05-01 concluded in the Central Pacific Nov. 23 with the targeting and destruction of a decommissioned Navy ship.
• Authorization Act Funds 3.5 Percent Troop Pay Raise, Cuts Housing Costs AFPS 26 Nov 2004 -- Money contained within the 2005 National Defense Authorization Act will fund a 3.5 percent troop pay raise and eliminate servicemembers' out-of-pocket costs for family housing, DoD's top military personnel official noted.

• ASEAN AUSTRALIA VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Australia's prime minister says he is unlikely to sign a non-aggression pact with its Asian neighbors, despite his efforts to strengthen economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. John Howard is under pressure from ASEAN leaders to water down his policy allowing pre-emptive attack on terrorists on foreign soil if his country is threatened.

• United States Urges Landmine Treaty's Parties to Do More Washington File 26 Nov 2004 -- The United States applauds the work of the governments who are party to the Ottawa Convention banning production and emplacement of anti-personnel landmines, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 26 Nov 2004
• U.S.-LANDMINE CONFERENCE VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Bush administration officials said Friday the United States will not take part in next week's review conference in Nairobi on the international convention on anti-personnel landmines. But they said the United States shares "common cause" with those seeking to protect innocent civilians from the landmine scourge.

• PALESTINIAN POLITICS VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Jailed Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti, the charismatic leader of a younger generation of militants, has agreed not to run in the January ninth general elections. The decision paves the way for greater unity among Palestinians in the vote to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat.
• EQUATORIAL GUINEA VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- A court in sub-Saharan Africa's third biggest oil producing nation, Equatorial Guinea, has handed down lengthy jail sentences to a dozen South Africans and Armenians convicted of plotting a coup. An opposition leader in exile and his aides were also sentenced and fined.
• COTE D IVOIRE: Mbeki takes centre-stage in difficult quest for peace IRIN 26 Nov 2004 -- First France tried to negotiate a settlement to the civil war that has partitioned Cote d'Ivoire for the past two years. Then the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations tried to mediate a solution to the conflict. But to no avail.
• ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: EU welcomes Ethiopia's acceptance of border ruling, urges Eritrea to respond IRIN 26 Nov 2004 -- The European Commission (EU) has welcomed the announcement by Ethiopia on Thursday that it had accepted "in principle" an April 2002 decision by an independent commission that ruled on the demarcation of its border with Eritrea.
• UGANDA: Security Council urges Museveni to end conflict in north IRIN 26 Nov 2004 -- Members of the UN Security Council on Thursday urged Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni to end an 18-year conflict, which has caused a major humanitarian crisis in the country's northern districts.
• SUDAN: Rising tensions reported in areas of Upper Nile IRIN 26 Nov 2004 -- A build-up of armed militias, government troops and southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) fighters in various areas of the Upper Nile region has raised tensions between local civilians and the armed groups, sources in Malakal told IRIN on Thursday.
• GREAT LAKES: Fresh threat challenges new regional declaration IRIN 26 Nov 2004 -- Rwanda's threat to invade the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to flush out Hutu rebels comes less than a week after the leaders of the two nations, along with nine other countries in the region, signed a declaration committing themselves to working out their differences peacefully.
• SENEGAL: No quick end in sight to Casamance rebellion IRIN 26 Nov 2004 -- The road between Ziguinchor, capital of Senegal's lush southern region of Casamance, and Cap Skirring, a once booming beach resort, is only 70 kms long. But the journey takes three hours because of military roadblocks and killer pot-holes caused by two decades of strife-related neglect.
• PALESTINIAN POLITICS VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Palestinian leaders scrambled Friday to avoid a rift within their ranks as they prepare for January 9th general elections to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat. Pressure mounted on Marwan Barghouti, the charismatic leader of a younger generation of activists, to drop any plans to run in the upcoming vote.

News Reports

• BUSH / UKRAINE VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- President Bush says the international community is very carefully watching events in Ukraine where he says allegations of voter fraud put presidential election results in doubt.
• U.S.-UKRAINE VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Here in Washington, officials are closely following developments in Ukraine with measured optimism about mediation efforts by Poland and the European Union. They have again urged restraint by security forces and political protestors.
• UKRAINE POL VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Ukraine's outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, says a working group has been formed, effective immediately, to find a peaceful way out of the political deadlock now gripping Ukraine. The word comes after talks Friday including international mediators from Europe, President Kuchma and the opposing presidential candidates.
• UKRAINE POL OPEN VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- European Union President Javier Solana and Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski have arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, Friday to try and help start a process of international mediation to end Ukraine's electoral stand-off.
• RUSSIA / UKRAINE CONCERN VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Russia has expressed concern about what it says are Western attempts to influence the situation in Ukraine. Russia and the West are on opposite sides in the ongoing crisis over last Sunday's disputed presidential run-off election.
• Yushchenko Supporters Block Government Buildings RFE/RL 26 Nov 2004 -- Thousands of supporters of Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko are gathering today near parliament and government buildings in Kyiv following a call yesterday by Yushchenko aides to blockade the buildings.
• Kuchma Appeals For Demos To End RFE/RL 26 Nov 2004 -- Outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has appealed for demonstrators to end their protests against the presidential election results, which have roiled the country all week.
• Ukraine: Despite Mediation Efforts, Ukrainians Say Country's Fate Is In Their Hands RFE/RL 26 Nov 2004 -- With European Union envoys in Kyiv to help Ukraine sort out its disputed presidential poll, supporters of both opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko and the purported winner of the election, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, say it is unclear to them what role the EU has in the crisis.
• Ukraine: Amid Protests, EU Mounts Mediating Effort In Ukraine RFE/RL 26 Nov 2004 -- European Union envoys, led by the bloc's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, are in Ukraine attempting to resolve the crisis that erupted in the aftermath of the 21 November disputed presidential election. While EU officials in Brussels remain tight-lipped about the details, they indicate their main hopes lie in the appeals process launched by Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition candidate, with the Ukrainian Supreme Court. EU officials, meanwhile, are seeking to play down their exchanges over Ukraine with President Vladimir Putin during yesterday's EU-Russia summit.
• Ukraine: Russia Warns Europe Over Crisis As Envoys Arrive In Kyiv RFE/RL 26 Nov 2004 -- The protest movement sparked by Ukraine's disputed presidential election entered its fifth day today, with opposition supporters blocking access to official buildings in central Kyiv and strikes reported in western regions. As the international community pressed ahead with efforts aimed at defusing the crisis, Russia again voiced concern over what it calls Europe's meddling in Ukrainian domestic affairs.

• ASEAN/BURMA VOA 26 Nov 2004 -- Burma's military government says it remains committed to democracy, and will hold elections, despite a recent leadership shakeup that consolidated the power of hard-line generals. The announcement was made in Laos on the eve of the summit of Southeast Asian nations, and came as Burma released thousands of prisoners from jails across the country.