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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 24 Jan 2005 [PDF]
• TASK FORCE OLYMPIA SOLDIER KILLED
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• IRAQ / ZARQAWI VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- A suicide bomber from Saudi Arabia, who survived a failed attempt to blow up the Jordanian mission Baghdad in December, alleges that Iraqi police may have captured, and then released, the most wanted terrorist in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, two months ago. Both U.S. and Iraqi officials could not confirm the claims made by the suicide bomber.
• Bomb Detonates Near Iraqi Premier's Offices RFE/RL 24 Jan 2005 -- Ten people were injured in central Baghdad today as a result of a suicide car-bomb attack near the offices of Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
• Al-Zarqawi Group Claims Credit For Iraq Attack RFE/RL 24 Jan 2005 -- A militant group led by Al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing today, as Iraqi officials announced the capture of two al-Zarqawi lieutenants.
• One Detained Following Explosion MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- One suspected insurgent was apprehended following an explosion west of Tikrit at about 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 23.
• Three Soldiers Wounded in Mortar Attack Near Samarra MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- Three 1st Infantry Division Soldiers were wounded when anti-Iraqi forces fired mortars into their patrol base near Samarra about 1:15 p.m. on Jan. 23.
• TF Danger, IA Soldiers Detain 18 People in Joint Raid MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- Task Force Danger Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Battalion, along with Iraqi Army soldiers and Emergency Services Unit police officers, detained 18 people suspected of anti-Iraqi forces attacks near Kirkuk on Jan. 24.
• 155 mm Round Found in Fallujah MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- Iraqi soldiers from three battalions of the 7th Brigade, working with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force near Fallujah completed stability operation patrols and found a 155 mm round on Jan. 23.
• Additional Iraqi Border Patrol Deployed to Al Waleed MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- Additional Special Border Force officers deployed to Al Waleed in the Al Anbar province on Jan. 24 for border security and terrorist interdiction.
• Suspects, weapons captured in Babil MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- Iraqi police officers in Babil Province completed sweeps and captured suspected terrorists, machine guns and mortar rounds in recent days.
• Readiness Exercise Focuses on Upcoming Elections MNF-I/MNC-I 24 Jan 2005 -- With an eye to the upcoming Iraqi national elections, Joint Coordination Centers in the Salah Ad Din Province, along with the Provincial Joint Coordination Center and other Iraqi entities, participated in a readiness exercise Jan 17 to 19.
• NAVELSF Forward BRAVO Members Return Home From Iraq, Kuwait Navy NewsStand 24 Jan 2005 -- Nearly 100 Navy Reservists returned to Naval Station Norfolk Jan. 22, completing a five-month deployment to Iraq and Kuwait.

• Afghanistan seeks return of its aircraft: Pak daily IRNA 24 Jan 2005 -- Pakistan is considering a request by Afghanistan to return Soviet-era aircraft and helicopters flown into Pakistan by defecting Afghan pilots.
• New Radios Improve Afghan Army Communications AFPS 24 Jan 2005 -- The Afghan National Army can now talk freely from Kandahar to Kabul to Heart, thanks to communication equipment that replaced Soviet-era radios and systems.
• OEF Fuelers Keep Helicopters Flying Longer AFPS 24 Jan 2005 -- For every aircraft used in Operation Enduring Freedom, a myriad of specialists works on the ground to keep every one of them in the air.

• U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Sails To Aid Tsunami Victims Washington File 24 Jan 2005 -- The U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy is heading to the Indian Ocean to aid tsunami victims in the region.
• VFA-82 Sailors Support Operation Unified Assistance Navy NewsStand 24 Jan 2005 -- Members of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 82, embarked aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), supported Operation Unified Assistance in January, providing food and supplies to the disaster victims on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
• Civil affairs Soldiers begin tsunami relief work Army News 24 Jan 2005 -- U.S. Army civil affairs Soldiers arrived the week of Jan. 18 to provide humanitarian assistance to those in Southeast Asia affected by the Dec. 26 tsunami, three weeks after more than 160,000 died and many more suffered in its wake.
• SH-60B Detachment Demonstrates Versatility During Operation Unified Assistance Navy NewsStand 24 Jan 2005 -- During Operation Unified Assistance in January, Sailors from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Light Squadrons (HSL) 43 and 49 carried relief supplies to tsunami victims along the coast of Indonesia after reconfiguring their helicopters to carry more weight.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: DoD Background Briefing on Strategic Support Teams 25 Jan 2005 -- Senior Defense Official
• MILITARY / INTELLIGENCE VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- The U.S. Defense Department says efforts to enhance its intelligence operations helped lead to the capture of Saddam Hussein just over a year ago, but that press reports of a new, secret intelligence-gathering unit are wrong. Department officials say both the Congress and the CIA knew about plans for a new intelligence unit that is just now starting its operations, and has not been working around the world for two years, as news reports have said.
• Hunter Statement on Intelligence Activities of the Defense Department House Committee on Armed Services - Duncan Hunterm, CA 24 Jan 2005 -- House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) issued the following statement regarding intelligence activities of the Department of Defense
• MILITARY / INTELLIGENCE VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- The U.S. Defense Department has denied a report in the Washington Post newspaper that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has created a secret intelligence-gathering unit reporting directly to him that can work more freely than operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency. But a senior official acknowledges the U.S. military is increasing its intelligence-gathering capability.

• USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group Begins Joint Task Force Exercise Navy NewsStand 24 Jan 2005 -- The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Carrier Strike Group, led by Rear Adm. Bruce W. Clingan, is participating in a Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) off the coast of southern California through the end of January.
• Kitty Hawk Successfully Completes SRA with Sea Trials Navy NewsStand 24 Jan 2005 -- USS Kitty Hawk's (CV 63) ship's restricted availability (SRA) successfully came to an end with the conclusion of sea trials Jan. 15.
• USS Benfold Sets Aviation Milestone Navy NewsStand 24 Jan 2005 -- USS Benfold (DDG 65) set an aviation milestone Jan. 24 with its 100th helicopter landing since arriving on station off the coast of Indonesia New Year's Day.
• Hawaii Air Guard participates in Cope Tiger AFPN 24 Jan 2005 -- Eight F-15 Eagles and 70 Airmen from the Hawaii Air National Guard's 199th Fighter Squadron deployed here Jan. 24 for Cope Tiger 2005.
• Officials release updated transformation flight plan AFPN 24 Jan 2005 -- Air Staff officials recently updated the U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan, which spells out the transformation strategy of the Air Force.

• State Department Briefing, January 24 Washington File 24 Jan 2005 -- Iraq, Israel/Palestinians, Pakistan/Rewards for Justice Campaign, Colombia/Venezuela

Defense Industry

• CACI Awarded Business and Financial Management Contract with Naval Air Systems Command CACI 24 Jan 2005 -- CACI International Inc (NYSE:CAI) announced today that it has been selected as one of seven large and seven small business prime contractors to support the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Business and Financial Community Multiple Award Contract. Under the terms of the contract, CACI will offer business and financial support services to NAVAIR as it manages programs and products delivered to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.
• Northrop Grumman-built Kidd (DDG 100) Christened; Ceremony Honors Heroic Navy Family Northrop Grumman 24 Jan 2005 -- In a traditional Naval ceremony here Saturday, the Aegis guided missile destroyer Kidd (DDG 100), built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), was christened before more than 1,000 guests. Kidd honors Rear Adm. Isaac Campbell Kidd, Medal of Honor recipient and the first flag officer to perish in World War II.
• CACI Awarded $2.8 Million Follow-on Contract for New Jersey Homeland Security Deployment CACI 24 Jan 2005 -- CACI International Inc (NYSE:CAI) announced today that it has been awarded a $2.8 million contract by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey to extend the E Team Crisis Management System to every county and key allied and state agency in New Jersey. CACI will conduct project management, implementation and deployment, training, exercise development and technical support for the expansion of E Team through the first months of 2005.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 24 Jan 2005
• COTE D IVOIRE: UN allows Gbagbo to repair damaged planes IRIN 24 Jan 2005 -- President Laurent Gbagbo's armed forces have begun transferring to Abidjan four attack aircraft damaged by French peacekeepers during a flare-up of hostilities in November in order to repair them, sparking fears of a resumption of hostilities among city residents.
• IVORY COAST VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- Ivory Coast rebels have criticized the U.N. and French peacekeepers' decision to let the Ivory Coast army repair its aircraft, which had been destroyed by French forces in November. A rebel delegation is in South Africa to discuss the situation with President Thabo Mbeki.
  
  
• Preparations continue for UN peacekeeping deployment in southern Sudan UN News Centre 24 Jan 2005 -- The United Nations envoy for Sudan is continuing preparations for the deployment of a UN peace support mission in the south of the vast country to consolidate the recently signed peace agreement between the Government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).
• SUDAN: Darfur villages reportedly burnt in fresh violence IRIN 24 Jan 2005 -- Eight villages in the western Sudanese region of Darfur were reportedly burned to the ground on Friday in a fresh outbreak of violence, sources said. An unspecified number of people were killed, the sources added.
• SUDAN/PEACE VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- The south's main rebel group is voting on whether to ratify the recently-signed peace agreement it made with the Sudanese government, ending 21 years of war.
  
  
• Middle East: Abbas Optimistic Palestinian Militants Will Accept Cease-Fire RFE/RL 24 Jan 2005 -- Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has said he expects to secure a deal soon in which militants will agree to halt attacks on Israelis -- a key step toward resumption of peace negotiations. The new Palestinian Authority president is holding talks with leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other militant factions. For its part, Israel says it is willing to respond to calm in equal measure. Is this the start at last of a more hopeful post-Arafat era?

News Reports

• SRI LANKA - DISASTER ONE MONTH VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- Four weeks after the Indian Ocean tsunami killed nearly 40 thousand people and destroyed hundreds of coastal towns and villages, Sri Lanka has moved out of the crisis phase of its relief efforts. The focus has shifted to reconstruction, and to the question of whether the government and the Tamil Tiger separatists will move back to the negotiating table.

• PUTIN/YUSHCHENKO VOA 24 Jan 2005 -- Ukraine's new president Viktor Yuschenko flew to Moscow for his first official visit abroad. The Ukrainian leader, who pledged to move his country towards Europe, met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who supported Mr. Yushchenko's rival in the drawn-out election.
• Ukraine: Yushchenko Talks About Europe -- But Heads To Moscow RFE/RL 24 Jan 2005 -- The day after his inauguration, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko made his first foreign visit today -- to Moscow. Yushchenko said yesterday that Ukraine's future lies in the European Union. Yet Russia remains the priority for Kyiv -- at least for now. In the coming days, Yushchenko is also scheduled to tour Central and Western Europe. He has also been invited to Washington.
• Ukraine President Tabs Tymoshenko For PM RFE/RL 24 Jan 2005 -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko today designated political ally Yuliya Tymoshenko to be the country's next prime minister.

• Northrop Grumman, Boeing Finalize Space Exploration Teaming Agreement Northrop Grumman 24 Jan 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) have completed and signed a formal agreement to compete as a team for NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and related human lunar exploration systems.