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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 25 Feb 2005 [PDF]
• SOLDIER KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
• TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIERS DIE IN INCIDENT
• TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIER DIES
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Five U.S. Soldiers Die; Accident Kills Polish Soldier AFPS 25 Feb 2005 -- Four U.S. servicemembers were killed in Iraq over the past 48 hours as Iraqi and U.S. forces press forward with security and stability operations in the country, officials reported.
• 3rd Infantry Prepares to Relieve 1st Cavalry in Baghdad AFPS 25 Feb 2005 -- As the 3rd Infantry Division returns to Baghdad, Iraq, to relieve the 1st Cavalry Division, the focus remains on securing the city, the commander of the outgoing division said in a news briefing there today.
• 3 US Soldiers Killed in Iraq Roadside Bombing VOA News 25 Feb 2005 -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed and eight wounded in Iraq Friday, in a roadside bomb attack.
• Iraqi Forces Capture Top Zarqawi Aide VOA News 25 Feb 2005 -- Authorities in Baghdad say Iraqi security forces have captured the leader of an al-Qaida terrorist cell allegedly responsible for a series of beheadings.

• Insurgent Attack Wounds U.S. Servicemember AFPS 25 Feb 2005 -- A U.S. servicemember was wounded Feb. 24 when a vehicle filled with insurgents fired on coalition forces in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, military officials there reported today.
• 9 Afghan Soldiers, 10 Taleban Killed in Separate Ambushes VOA News 25 Feb 2005 -- Authorities in Afghanistan say nine Afghan soldiers and 10 Taleban rebels have been killed in two separate ambushes in the country's restive south.
• Canine Units in Afghanistan Issued New Protective Vests AFPS 25 Feb 2005 -- When canine handlers of the 25th Military Police Company conduct extraction missions and area searches in Afghanistan, their highly trained dogs often serve as the main tool for finding weapons and people in hiding.
• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Vol 4, Number 7 25 Feb 2005 -- PIPELINES OR PIPE DREAMS? / ELECTION SPECIAL / NATO EXPANSION, CHANGE OF COMMAND AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS DILEMMA / IN UNFOLDING SAGA, FORMER MEMBERS OF TALIBAN REGIME CONFIRM TALKS WITH KABUL / AFGHAN COUNTERNARCOTICS EFFORTS GET FOREIGN SUPPORT / AFGHAN PRESIDENT TRAVELS TO SAUDI ARABIA... / ...WHERE HE ALSO MEETS PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER / DEFENSE MINISTRY ISSUES WARNING TO MILITIA COMMANDERS TO DISARM / POLITICAL PARTIES WANT TO AMEND CONSTITUTION / SELLERS OF 'IMMORAL' DVDS ARRESTED / U.S. BUDGET REQUEST CALLS FOR MORE THAN $2 BILLION FOR AFGHANISTAN / CZECH REPUBLIC TO SEND ADDITIONAL TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN / PRESIDENT MAKES NEW APPOINTMENTS / THIS WEEK IN AFGHANISTAN'S HISTORY
• Afghan National Army begins new training model Army News 25 Feb 2005 -- Almost 500 Afghan National Army soldiers doubled-timed for six miles Feb. 24 in order to get to their new home in time to start the first Advanced Individual Training courses for ANA soldiers today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Army detainee ops plan includes 35 new units Army News 25 Feb 2005 -- The Army's provost marshal general provided details Feb. 23 of a plan to improve detainee operations from Iraq to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and establish 35 new Internment/Resettlement units.
• USS Mount Whitney Becomes U.S. 6th Fleet Flagship; USS La Salle to Decommission Navy NewsStand 25 Feb 2005 -- Vice Adm. Harry Ulrich, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, transferred his flag from USS La Salle (AGF 3) to USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) Feb. 25 in a ceremony aboard both ships.
• FORCEnet Functional Concept Signed, Face of Naval Warfare to Evolve Navy NewsStand 25 Feb 2005 -- The Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps signed the FORCEnet Functional Concept Feb. 7 to focus on exploiting the power of networking decision-makers at all levels, giving naval forces the speed and agility to dramatically improve overall combat effectiveness and mission accomplishment.
• Hawkeye IMC Up, Running, Flying at Point Mugu Navy NewsStand 25 Feb 2005 -- The much-anticipated Integrated Maintenance Concept at Point Mugu, Calif., became a reality Jan. 19 with the first induction of the E-2C Hawkeye.
• Airmen add armor to Army vehicles AFPN 25 Feb 2005 -- Fifty Airmen and more than 150 civilians worldwide are doing a very important job, but not for the Air Force.
• Military Discharges Due to Homosexual Policy Continue to Drop AFPS 25 Feb 2005 -- Military discharges based on the Pentagon's homosexual conduct policy have dropped to their lowest rate since 1996 and make up a small fraction of unprogrammed separations, according to Department of Defense officials.
• Guantanamo Troops Deployed in Unusual Surroundings AFPS 25 Feb 2005 -- This is not your typical deployment location in the war on terror. Troops here get to scuba dive in their off time and have an assortment of restaurants and bars to unwind in at the end of long days spent guarding enemy combatants.

• NATO Forces Gather in the Mediterranean for the World's Largest Annual Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise NATO/JFC Naples 25 Feb 2005 -- Ten NATO nations will provide six submarines, ten maritime patrol aircraft and 16 surface ships to take part in NOBLE MARLIN 05 (NM 05), the world's largest anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise from 03 to 16 March 2005.

• Nicaragua Reaffirms Pledge to Destroy Anti-aircraft Missiles Washington File 25 Feb 2005 -- Nicaragua has reassured the United States that it will honor a commitment to destroy its own stock of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, says Rose Likins, the U.S. State Department's acting assistant secretary for political-military affairs.

• State Department Daily Briefing, February 25 Washington File 25 Feb 2005 -- Department, Egypt, Palestinians, Sudan, Nepal, Israel/Palestinians, Syria/Lebanon, Iraq, Greece, Iran, Miscellaneous, Canada, Congo, Burma, Singapore, Cyprus

Defense Industry

• General Dynamics Awarded $10 Million Modification for Virginia-class Submarine Photonics Mast Workstations General Dynamics 25 Feb 2005 -- The U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), a $10 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for fabrication, integration, test and delivery of seven photonics mast workstations (PMWs) for installation on Virginia-class submarines. The PMWs are used to control and display imaging sensor data from the AN/BVS-1 Photonics Mast System.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 25 Feb 2005
• Suicide Bomber Strikes Tel Aviv Nightclub, Several Dead VOQ News 25 Feb 2005 -- Shortly before midnight a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of young Israelis waiting to get into a beachfront nightclub in Tel Aviv.
• Rice To Attend International Meeting on Supporting Palestinians Washington File 25 Feb 2005 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will participate in an international conference in London March 1 aimed at supporting the Palestinian Authority.
  
  
• U.S. Officials in Sudan Will Support Peace Agreement Washington File 25 Feb 2005 -- The United States is stepping up support of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement February 25.
• UN/SUDAN REFUGEES VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- The U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Wendy Chamberlin, says Sudanese refugees are reluctant to go home because they face an uncertain future upon their return. Ms. Chamberlin recently returned to UNHCR headquarters in Geneva after visiting her agency's operations in south Sudan and refugee camps in neighboring countries.
• BRITAIN / BLAIR VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the world community needs to support a bigger African Union intervention in Sudan's Darfur region. Mr. Blair also discussed Syria and the threat of Islamic terrorism in Britain during his monthly news conference
  
  
• ONLY 26% OF RUSSIANS SEE IMPROVEMENTS IN CHECHNYA RIA Novosti 25 Feb 2005 -- About 49% of Russians believe that the situation in Chechnya has not been changing recently while 26% believe it is changing for the better and 8% think it is growing worse.
• HEAD OF CHECHEN STATE COUNCIL TO SEEK CLOSING OF SEPARATIST WEB SITES RIA Novosti 25 Feb 2005 -- Chairman of the Chechen State Council Taus Dzhabrailov will seek closing of separatist web sites.
  
  
• Annan condemns murder of nine UN peacekeepers in DR of Congo UN News Centre 25 Feb 2005 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help the United Nations track down the unidentified militia members who ambushed and murdered nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving in the country's remote northeast - the worst-ever attack against the UN's forces in the DRC.
• DRC: Several UN peacekeepers wounded in militia ambush IRIN 25 Feb 2005 -- Unidentified gunmen shot and wounded several UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an ambush on Friday in the village of Kafe, in the northeastern district of Ituri.
• CONGO/AMBUSH VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- The UN has said 9 of its peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in the volatile northeastern Congolese district of Ituri on Friday morning. A spokesman for the mission said they were ambushed by unknown gunmen as they were on patrol. The losses are the heaviest the UN mission has suffered since it was set up there in 1999.
  
  
• Political parties demand restoration of democracy in Nepal IRNA 25 Feb 2005 -- A convention of major political parties, barring the NDA constituents, came together Thursday to demand restoration of democracy in Nepal and condemn the "authoritarian" action of King Gyanendra in seizing power.
• NEPAL POLITICS VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- With Nepal facing a military aid embargo, King Gyanendra has called on the international community to continue supporting his government's struggle against Maoist insurgents. The king has also defended his recent power grab.
  
  
• SOMALIA / POL VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- For the first time since taking office last October in neighboring Kenya, the leaders of Somalia's government in exile are visiting their homeland, assessing conditions for moving the government to the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
• LEBANON/SYRIA VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- Lebanese are watching for signs of Syria's announced troop redeployment. But the latest reports indicate Syrian forces have yet to move from their current positions.

News Reports

• UN team starts probe into assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister UN News Centre 25 Feb 2005 -- The United Nations Mission of Inquiry into last week's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri began its work today with a meeting with top local officials and a pledge to work "with absolute impartiality and professionalism."

• Former Presidents' Visit to Tsunami-Affected Countries a Success Washington File 25 Feb 2005 -- Bush administration officials described the visit of former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to four countries affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami as "a tremendous success."

• TOGO 2ND UPDATE VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- Togo's military-appointed president, the son of the country's late, long-ruling leader, has resigned, after mounting international pressure. But he says he will run in presidential elections scheduled for mid-April.
• UN/WEST AFRICA VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan says Togo represents the failure of west African countries to accept democratic principles on the transfer of power.
• TOGO POLITICS VOA 25 Feb 2005 -- A top official of Togo's ruling party says the country's military-appointed leader, the son of the late long-ruling president, must step down. The statement comes as African leaders are considering further sanctions to restore constitutional order in the small West African nation.