Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 02 Mar 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Saddam Tribunal Judge Reported Killed RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- police officials have said that gunmen have killed a judge who was believed to have been working with the special tribunal that is planned to put former President Saddam Hussein and members of his former regime on trial.
• IRAQ: US forces hand over security to Iraqi army in capital IRIN 02 Mar 2005 -- The US army handed over authority in several areas of the capital, Baghdad, to the 40th Brigade of the Iraqi army last week, Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials said.
• ISF and MNF relentless in pursuit of insurgents MNF-I/MNC-I 02 Mar 2005 -- Multi-National Forces detained one suspected terrorist, killed two and injured another during operations in northern Iraq March 2.
• VMGR-452 "Yankees" return home from Iraq USMC News 02 Mar 2005 -- The Marines of VMGR-452 returned from Iraq Feb. 25. For many of them, it was their second homecoming during the war on terror.

• Afghanistan: Government Holds Talks With Moderate Taliban RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- Afghan and U.S. officials say in recent months several former high-ranking members of the Taliban have responded to an amnesty offer by the Afghanistan government and that talks have been held. On 28 February, the governor of Kandahar Province, a former Taliban stronghold, said he was hopeful that large numbers of the Taliban would soon rejoin the country's political and social life. Taliban hard-liners have reportedly dismissed the talks as propaganda and vowed to continue their fight. Last week, in a fresh surge of violence blamed on the Taliban militia, more than 20 rebels and Afghan troops were killed.
• Afghanistan: New Report Says Heroin Production On The Rise RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- A new report heightens concerns about the massive opium trade from Afghanistan and the new government's ability to cope with the problem. The International Narcotics Control Board, in its annual survey, says there appears to be an increasing amount of heroin being processed internally in Afghanistan. A board expert praised the government's new strategy for opium eradication. But he warned it will not work until Kabul is able to exercise authority over more of the country.
• Afghanistan: Powerful Commander Gets High-Ranking Military Post RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday appointed a controversial commander, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, as chief of staff to the head of the country's armed forces -- a post held by Karzai himself. It is unclear how much authority Dostum will have in this new position, but the appointment is already being criticized by rights groups, which accuse Dostum of committing abuses.
• NATO Sends Peacekeepers Into Western Afghanistan RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- NATO today began an expansion of its forces into western Afghanistan as part of efforts to rebuild the region.
• Afghan President Appoints Dostum Chief Of Staff RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday appointed a regional commander, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, as his personal military adviser.
• AFGHANISTAN NATO VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- More troops will be sent to strengthen the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan ahead of parliamentary elections later this year. The soldiers will help provide security during the polls.
• 20,000th ANA soldier graduates from KMTC Army News 02 Mar 2005 -- February 27 marked the graduation of the 20,000th soldier to train at the Kabul Military Training Center. The Afghanistan National Army's first kandak, or battalion, graduated July 23, 2002, and less then three years later the ANA has grown into a force of more than 20,000 ANA soldiers.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Wolfowitz Outlines Aims of New Defense Spending Requests Washington File 02 Mar 2005 -- President Bush's proposed fiscal year 2006 budget for the Department of Defense must be looked at in context of the global War on Terror, the transformational needs of the military, and the movement by citizens of the Middle East and elsewhere toward democracy, as well as the humanitarian work the U.S. military does, such as assisting the survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami, says Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
• Abizaid: 2005 'Can Be a Decisive Year' Against Extremism AFPS 02 Mar 2005 -- This year will likely be a momentous one for U.S. and coalition efforts in confronting extremism in the Middle East region, a senior U.S. officer told the House Armed Services Committee today.
• New Assistant Secretary of the Navy Sworn In 02 Mar 2005 -- Mr. B.J. Penn, was sworn in yesterday as the assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England.
• DFAS changes Web site address Army News 02 Mar 2005 -- The Defense Finance and Accounting Service public Web site has changed from (http://www.dfas.mil) to http://www.dod.mil/dfas as of March 1.
• USNS Arctic Keeps the Fleet Combat Ready Navy NewsStand 02 Mar 2005 -- USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8), currently deployed with the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Carrier Strike Group in the Persian Gulf, completed simultaneous underway replenishments with Truman and USS Monterey (CG 61) Feb. 26.
• U.S. 5th Fleet Assets Expand Expeditionary Command and Control Capabilities Navy NewsStand 02 Mar 2005 -- U.S. naval assets practiced establishing and operating a command and control facility from a remote location in a forward operating area within the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, in conjunction with exercise Neon Falcon '05, Feb. 17-23.
• Mine Warfare Crews 'Swapping' Vessels Navy NewsStand 02 Mar 2005 -- Sailors stationed aboard mine warfare vessels homeported at Naval Station Ingleside departed Feb. 12-26 for a six-month deployment aboard mine warfare ships forward-deployed in the Persian Gulf. They are replacing the crews currently manning those ships, who will in turn return to South Texas.

• Pakistan Air Force aircraft crashes - report IRNA 02 Mar 2005 -- A small aircraft of Pakistan Air Force crashed on Wednesday in the country`s southwestern city of Chakwal, reporters and officials said.

• GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: NATO MONITORING OF RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN BORDER IS UNREAL RIA Novosti 02 Mar 2005 -- Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili believes that NATO monitoring of the Russian-Georgian border is unreal.

• White House Daily Briefing, March 2 Washington File 02 Mar 2005 -- Iran, Social Security, Syria/troops in Lebanon, Supreme Court/Ten Commandments, Iraqi judge killed
• State Department Briefing, March 2 Washington File 02 Mar 2005 -- North Korea, Syria/Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Germany, Cyprus, Colombia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan

Defense Industry

• 100th Eurofighter fuselage centre section delivered EADS 02 Mar 2005 -- The 100th fully-equipped Eurofighter fuselage centre section has left the assembly station at EADS Military Aircraft's Manching site. Dietmar Schrick, Head of Programmes at EADS Military Aircraft, officially handed over the centre section to the Spanish partner EADS CASA. This milestone fuselage centre section is destined for the Spanish single-seater bearing the production number SS007 and will be integrated into the aircraft on the final assembly line at Getafe.
• T700-GE-401C Engines To Power Singapore Naval Hawk Helicopters GE Aviation 02 Mar 2005 -- T700-GE-401C turboshaft engines will power six new Sikorsky S-70BTM twin-engine Naval HawkTM helicopters ordered by the Singapore Ministry of Defence.
• Lockheed Martin Awards L. Robert Kimball & Associates Presidential Helicopter Facility Design Contract Lockheed Martin 02 Mar 2005 -- Lockheed Martin has awarded the Ebensburg, PA-based architecture firm of L. Robert Kimball & Associates a contract to design the new presidential helicopter facility at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego. Work under this contract will begin immediately. The contract’s value is in excess of $1 million.
• SECURITY-2005 EXHIBITION TO OPEN IN KAZAN RIA Novosti 02 Mar 2005 -- The international exhibition Security-2005 will be held in Kazan from March 2-4, RIA Novosti was told in the Emergencies Ministry (MChS) of Tatarstan (a republic in the Volga area), which is one of its organizers.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 02 Mar 2005
• PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT United Nations 02 Mar 2005
• Security Council condemns attack on UN peacekeepers in DR of Congo UN News Centre 02 Mar 2005 -- The Security Council today condemned last Friday's attack on a United Nations peacekeeping patrol in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which killed nine Bangladeshi soldiers, and said it considered "this aggression, by its intentional and well-planned nature, to be an unacceptable outrage."
• UN peacekeepers in eastern DR of Congo return fire, kill 50 militiamen, destroy camps UN News Centre 02 Mar 2005 -- United Nations peacekeepers in the volatile eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) came under attack yesterday while carrying out a search and cordon operation, returned fire and killed at least 50 militia fighters, a UN spokesman said today.
• UN / CONGO ATTACK VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations has strongly defended the actions of peacekeeping troops in the Congo who killed at least 50 members of a local militia. From U.N. headquarters, The peacekeepers are taking a more aggressive approach following an attack by gunmen that killed nine U.N. troops.
• CONGO / PEACEKEEPERS VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations says peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 50 militiamen in heavy fighting. The clashes took place in the lawless Ituri district in northeastern Congo and came less than a week after nine blue helmets were killed in the area by gunmen.
• DRC: Fighting between UN troops, militias leaves 50 dead IRIN 02 Mar 2005 -- At least 50 militiamen were killed during fighting between Pakistani UN troops and elements suspected to have killed nine UN peacekeepers on 25 February, Gen Jean-Francois Collot d'Escuries, the chief of staff of the UN peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo, known as MONUC, told IRIN.
• DRC: Militia leaders arrested in Kinshasa IRIN 02 Mar 2005 -- Several leaders of the militia group that is accused of having executed nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers on Friday in Kafe village, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeastern Ituri District, have been arrested, Justice Minister Kisimba Ngoy told IRIN on Wednesday.
  
  
• Annan reminds turbulent Côte d'Ivoire to cooperate with African Union's mediation UN News Centre 02 Mar 2005 -- Expressing concern at the attack by "armed youth" against rebel Forces Nouvelles positions across the peacekeepers' Zone of Confidence last Friday and other serious incidents, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the belligerents to rein in their militias.
• COTE D IVOIRE: Several reported killed in Monday's clash, militia promises fresh attacks IRIN 02 Mar 2005 -- The situation remained tense in western Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday as reports filtered out of heavy casualties in a clash between militia fighters supporting President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel fighters on the frontline earlier in the week.
  
  
• New Senate Bill Would Step Up Pressure on Genocide in Darfur Washington File 02 Mar 2005 -- In a continuing effort to bring pressure to bear against the Sudanese government to stop the ongoing violence in Darfur, two U.S. senators introduced a bill March 2, the Darfur Accountability Act, that would renew U.S. and multilateral sanctions against those responsible for the atrocities.
• SUDAN: IDPs report continuing killings by gunmen in Darfur IRIN 02 Mar 2005 -- At least 16 people have been killed by unidentified gunmen in South Darfur state amidst reports of continuing violence in western Sudan, UN officials told IRIN in the capital, Khartoum.
  
  
• Secretary-General discusses shattered Palestinian economy with President Abbas UN News Centre 02 Mar 2005 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the importance of freedom of movement in occupied Palestinian lands in improving the economy, an essential pillar in securing peace with Israel.
• EU / PALESTINIANS VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says he thinks what he calls a new era of peace and hope has been born in the Middle East and that it will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. Mr. Abbas met with European Union officials Wednesday to drum up support for his proposed political and administrative reforms.
  
  
• MILITANTS PLANTING LANDMINES IN FIELDS PRIOR TO SOWING CAMPAIGN RIA Novosti 02 Mar 2005 -- Chechen militants plant landmines in the fields in anticipation of the sowing campaign, RIA Novosti was told by a spokesman of the Regional Operative Headquarters running the antiterrorist operation in the North Caucasus.
• ONE KILLED, 18 WOUNDED IN CHECHNYA RIA Novosti 02 Mar 2005 -- On Tuesday, one policeman was killed and 16 wounded in the shelling of the building of the local police department, a source in the Chechen Interior Ministry told RIA Novosti.
  
  
• Fréchette heads to Sierra Leone after wrapping up visit to UN mission in Liberia UN News Centre 02 Mar 2005 -- Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette headed to Sierra Leone today after wrapping up her trip to Liberia for the second leg of visits to United Nations peacekeeping operations in West Africa to emphasize the world body's zero tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse by UN troops.
• Haiti's internal security remains precarious, UN report says UN News Centre 02 Mar 2005 -- Although the United Nations peacekeeping force is almost at authorized strength and has improved Haiti's security, the situation remains precarious "and the possibility of outbreaks of violence cannot be ruled out," Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report on the Caribbean nation and the UN mission there.
• US / LEBANON / HEZBOLLAH VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- A Bush administration official says democratic reform in Lebanon could strengthen Hezbollah's political influence in the country. But the official told a Senate panel Wednesday that U.S. aid programs for Lebanon could help reduce the appeal of the militant group, which the United States says is a terrorist organization.
• ISRAEL / SYRIA VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- Israel is watching closely, as international pressure mounts on Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon.
• Nepal cracks down on reporting on Maoist insurgency IRNA 02 Mar 2005 -- Clamping down on the right of the media to free and fair reporting, the Nepal monarch Gyanendra on Wednesday instructed the media houses in the Nepalese territory not to publish news reports about Maoist insurgency without quoting sources from security agencies.
• ETHIOPIA: Meles reaffirms readiness to send peacekeepers to Somalia IRIN 02 Mar 2005 -- Ethiopia stands ready to send peacekeepers to war-ravaged Somalia, despite opposition from some Somali faction leaders, among others, to the potential move, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday.

News Reports

• CONGRESS / NEPAL VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- A U.S. State Department official has renewed a call on Nepal's king to take steps toward restoring democracy and to release detained political leaders. However, the official told a House of Representatives subcommittee Nepalese government was right in fighting Maoist insurection.

• Rice Says Syria Blocks U.S. Efforts To Effect Change in Mideast> Washington File 01 Mar 2005 -- Syria is obstructing U.S. attempts to bring about change in the Middle East through its support for Iraqi insurgents and Palestinian rejectionists and its occupation of Lebanon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says.
• Middle East: Pressure Grows For Syrian Withdrawal From Lebanon RFE/RL 02 Mar 2005 -- Syria is coming under growing international pressure over its military presence in Lebanon. Since Lebanon's pro-Syrian government resigned on 28 Febraury, both Paris and Washington have reiterated their calls for Damascus to withdraw its 14,000 troops. In a recent interview with the U.S. news weekly "Time," the Syrian president has promised he can do so "within months, not more." But experts see that remark as a negotiating tactic. They say a withdrawal is unlikely without further pressure -- and possibly a different negotiating approach.
• BUSH SYRIA VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- President Bush says it is time for Syria to get out of Lebanon. Mr. Bush says the international community is united in ending Syria's military and political presence in Lebanon.
• BEIRUT PROTESTS VOA 02 Mar 2005 -- Lebanon's opposition leaders are debating what to do next, after popular protests brought down Prime Minister Omar Karami's government, and as Syria continues to stall over removing its troops.