Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 03 Mar 2005 [PDF]
• TWO TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIERS DIE

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing 03 Mar 2005 -- Lawrence Di Rita, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
• Iraqi, U.S., Scotch Troops Nab Terror Suspects, Weapons AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- American and Iraqi troops, as well as a detachment of Scottish Guards, nabbed scores of suspected terrorists and weaponry during a series of actions across Iraq March 2 and today, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported.
• Police Killed In Baghdad Car Bombings RFE/RL 03 Mar 2005 -- Two car bombs exploded near Iraq's Interior Ministry in Baghdad today, killing at least five policemen.
• Major arms cache uncovered by Scots guards in Basra MNF-I/MNC-I 03 Mar 2005 -- A search team from 1st Battalion Scots Guards, has uncovered a significant arms dump hidden in a house in North Basra.
• U.S. forces seize several weapons caches MNF-I/MNC-I 03 Mar 2005 -- .S. Marines and soldiers from the 1st Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force detained 26 insurgents and seized several weapons caches during operations throughout Al Anbar province during the last 24 hours.
• Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces detain six MNF-I/MNC-I 03 Mar 2005 -- Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces detained six individuals suspected of terrorist activity in northern Iraq March 2 and 3.
• 181st Support Battalion transfers authority MNF-I/MNC-I 03 Mar 2005 -- 181st Support Battalion, 81st Brigade Combat Team conducted a Transfer of Authority with 29th Support Battalion, 29th Brigade Combat Team on March 2 at Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Balad, Iraq.
• 81st Brigade Combat Team transfers authority MNF-I/MNC-I 03 Mar 2005 -- The 81st Brigade Combat Team relinquished command of their operations to the 29th Brigade Combat Team on March 3 at Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Balad, Iraq.
• Essex ARG Picks Up 31st MEU for Journey Home Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2005 -- Ships from USS Essex (LHD 2) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), Essex, USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) and USS Juneau (LPD 10), began the backload of 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) personnel following their five months of combat operations in Iraq, Feb. 27.

• UN: Iraqi, Afghan Ministers Seek Support In Political Struggle Ahead RFE/RL 03 Mar 2005 -- At the last major UN conference reviewing the Beijing action plan on women's rights in 2000, Afghanistan and Iraq were counted among the tragic cases of repressed states. Now, as fledgling democracies, both states have sent large delegations of female officials to the UN conference to gain insight into raising women's status and welfare. Women's affairs ministers from Iraq and Afghanistan told delegates these are times of opportunity for correcting the abuses of the recent past. But they also anticipate struggles ahead.
• Four international experts appointed by UN envoy to help run Afghan legislative elections UN News Centre 03 Mar 2005 -- The senior United Nations envoy for Afghanistan today appointed four international electoral experts to serve on the commission charged with preparing and conducting the country's national legislative and district polls scheduled for later this year.
• AFGHANISTAN WOMAN GOVERNOR VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- Afghanistan has appointed its first female provincial governor in keeping with the new government's policy of promoting women to positions of power.
• 3/3 scores major success in Khost USMC News 03 Mar 2005 -- Under the light from a pale, yellow moon, the Marines moved swiftly across the cold and barren wadi, hand and arm signals mobilizing squads and fire teams silently into position around the village.

• Lincoln CVW Returns from Humanitarian Mission Navy NewsStand 03 Mar 2005 -- USS Abraham Lincoln (AL) Carrier Strike Group's (CSG) Air Wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, returned to San Diego March 1, concluding a deployment to the Western Pacific that included humanitarian relief efforts for the survivors of the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia Dec. 26.

Defense Policy / Programs

• FACT SHEET Army News Release 03 Mar 2005 -- The Army is continuing its effort to keep the public informed by releasing 1,199 pages of criminal investigations pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act litigation with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• ARMY UPDATES DETAINEE OPERATIONS DOCUMENTS Army News Release 03 Mar 2005 -- The Army is continuing its effort to keep the public informed by releasing 1,199 pages of criminal investigations pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act litigation with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• General Describes EUCOM Transformation, Expresses Hope for Iraq AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- U.S. and NATO missions around the world and optimism for the future of freedom in Iraq were among the topics discussed today in a radio interview by the top U.S. military officer in Europe.
• Special Ops Plays Key Role in Terror War While Transforming AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- The global war on terror has increased the operational tempo among special operations forces "greatly," and said Thomas W. O'Connell, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, "we don't see any decrease on the horizon."
• DoD Works to Improve Care, Transition for Wounded Troops AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- The military's goal is to provide world-class care from injury on the battlefield through its stateside medical facilities, a top Army medical official said here today.
• Army Misses Recruiting Goal, Raises Enlistment Bonuses AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- The Army "is a particularly stressed force" and officials are studying ways to increase recruiting, Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita said here today.
• Defense Department Report, March 3: Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Washington File 03 Mar 2005 -- Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said March 3 that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would be represented by the Justice Department in a lawsuit filed against him by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First.
• From Mayberry to Metropolis: Guantanamo Bay Changes AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- Before the war on terrorism, the Navy maintained enough sailors at this remote base "to keep the lights on," the base's commander said. Three years later, the population has quadrupled and construction is booming.
• Navy to Commission New Guided Missile Destroyer Nitze 03 Mar 2005 -- The Navy will commission the newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, Nitze, during a 1 p.m. EST ceremony Saturday at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
• Speedy Care, Better Gear Help Troops Survive Injuries AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- Servicemembers fighting the war on terror are surviving what normally would be fatal injuries due to improved protective gear, better-trained combat medics and quicker evacuation procedures, according to a doctor who has been to the front line three times.
• Special Ops Working to Retain Seasoned Operators AFPS 03 Mar 2005 -- A new incentive package is expected to help the military better compete against other federal agencies and the private sector for skills possessed by special operations forces, according to DoD's top official on special operations and low-intensity conflict.
• Distributed learning revolutionizes Army training Army News 03 Mar 2005 -- Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians interested in taking courses to fulfill their training requirements or enhance their careers can do so through Army's Distributed Learning System.

• NATO and Georgia sign transit agreement NATO 02 Mar 2005 -- On Wednesday 2 March, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili signed an agreement at NATO HQ regarding the provision of host nation support to and transit of NATO forces and NATO personnel.
• Rehearsal DETERMINED EFFORT 2005 (DE05) NATO/JFC Naples 02 Mar 2005 -- NATO forces will deploy to Kosovo to take part in a routinely scheduled operational rehearsal to ensure NATO troops and the Reserve Forces Headquarters are prepared to respond to any crisis in the Balkans.

• RUSSIA, GERMANY HAVE NO SECRETS FROM EACH OTHER RIA Novosti 03 Mar 2005 -- Russia and Germany have no secrets from each other in military-technological cooperation, German Defense Minister Peter Struck told reporters.
• RUSSIA, GERMANY MAY COOPERATE IN MILITARY TRAINING RIA Novosti 03 Mar 2005 -- Sergei Ivanov, the Russian defense minister, believes that Russia and Germany may cooperate in military training in the future.

• White House Daily Briefing, March 3 Washington File 03 Mar 2005 -- President's schedule/update, income tax reform, Social Security reform, Iranian nuclear program, Allawi phone call, Osama bin Laden, terror level, Uruguay, Canadian beef imports, Canada/Mexico trilateral, intelligence reform
• State Department Briefing, March 3 Washington File 03 Mar 2005 -- Indonesia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Uruguay, Japan, Rice/meetings after return from London, Lebanon, Syria, North Korea

Defense Industry

• Boeing's Newest Fighter Aircraft Makes First Flight Boeing 03 Mar 2005 -- The Boeing [NYSE: BA] Company's reputation for delivering the most lethal fighter aircraft to militaries around the world continued today when their newest fighter aircraft, the F-15K Strike Eagle, made its first flight in St. Louis.
• Northrop Grumman Delivers First Radar for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Northrop Grumman 03 Mar 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has delivered the first fire-control radar for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to prime contractor Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Aeronautics Company.
• Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Weapons Drop from New Medium-Altitude UAV Prototype Northrop Grumman 03 Mar 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) successfully demonstrated the ability to release a weapon from a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator during flight-testing conducted Feb. 24 over Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
• Lockheed Martin Marks Progress On SBIRS High Program With Successful Completion Of Key Component Lockheed Martin 03 Mar 2005 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has achieved a major milestone with completion and delivery of a sophisticated, high-performance communications subsystem integral to the infrared payload of the first Space-Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High) geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 03 Mar 2005
• PRESS BRIEFING ON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO United Nations 03 Mar 2005
• UN / CONGO VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- United Nations peacekeeping officials say neighboring countries are arming and supplying militias in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly in the Ituri region. U.N. troops killed at least 50 militiamen Tuesday when the peacekeepers came under attack during a search operation. From VOA's New York Bureau, correspondent Barbara Schoetzau reports the U.N. officials say the situation in the Ituri region has been deteriorating since December.
• UN working with neighbours of DR of Congo to contain militia threat, Annan says UN News Centre 03 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations mission in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is trying to contain the situation in a very troublesome and unsettled area, as recent attacks on UN troops have shown, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
• DRC: Army, rebels main suspects of looting, stealing - MONUC says IRIN 03 Mar 2005 -- Looting, stealing and burning of villages in North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was carried out by armed militias and by members of the newly integrated national army. This was the result of a special inquiry of the UN Mission in the DRC, or MONUC, which was published on 24 February.
• DRC: Congolese forces in Ituri crackdown on militias IRIN 03 Mar 2005 -- Soldiers of the integrated Congolese national army began their crackdown on militiamen in the northeastern district of Ituri on Tuesday when they deployed to the territory of Aru, 300 km north of Bunia town, a military official told IRIN.
  
  
• SUDAN/DARFUR VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- A goodwill ambassador for the U.N. children's agency says he plans to ask Arab countries to help those affected by the war in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
• DARFUR / MILITIA LEADER VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- A man accused of being a top Janjaweed militia leader in Darfur says the Sudan government backed and coordinated the militia's activities. Musa Hilal, whose name is on a U.S. State Department list of human rights abusers in Darfur, says on videotape that he mobilized people to join militias that were then trained and armed by the Sudanese government.
  
  
• Militia members handed over to Côte d'Ivoire authorities by UN mission UN News Centre 03 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire today handed over to local authorities the nearly 90 militia members it detained after a clash between the militia and rebel forces in the west of the country.
• U.S.-Backed Peacekeeping Force Has Improved Security in Haiti Washington File 03 Mar 2005 -- A U.S.-supported multinational peacekeeping force sent to Haiti has improved security in the Caribbean nation, but the situation remains precarious and the possibility of outbreaks of violence "cannot be ruled out," says U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
• SIERRA LEONE / PROSECUTOR VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- The out-going lead prosecutor for Sierra Leone's war crimes tribunal says former Liberian President Charles Taylor remains a threat to the stability of West Africa.
• SOMALIA: Strengthen arms embargo to improve security, Annan urges IRIN 03 Mar 2005 -- The arms embargo against Somalia should be tightened because intermittent fighting, prevailing insecurity and violence have continued to hamper relief work in many areas of the country, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended.
• Bosnian Muslim Pleads Not Guilty To War Crimes RFE/RL 03 Mar 2005 -- The wartime commander of Bosnia's Muslim army pleaded not guilty today of culpability for the murder and rapes of Croats and Serbs during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

News Reports

• TOGO: ECOWAS says no elections before 24 April, Olympio plans to stand IRIN 03 Mar 2005 -- West African neighbours trying to end Togo's leadership transition crisis have concluded that fresh presidential elections cannot realistically be held before 24 April.
• TOGO/ ELECTIONS VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- The West African grouping ECOWAS says it will help organize elections in Togo, so people can choose a president to take the place of long ruling Gnassingbe Eyadema, who died in February. But opposition politicians do not believe conditions for fair elections exist.

• MIDDLE EAST: LEBANON'S 'PEACEFUL INTIFADA' SOARS ON 'WIND OF CHANGE' US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign Media Reaction 03 Mar 2005
• UN envoy seeking Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon to return there in coming days UN News Centre 03 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations envoy seeking the withdrawal of some 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon is returning to the region in the next few days, less than a month after his last visit, following an increase in tension sparked by the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
• BEIRUT/SYRIA VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- Syria is struggling to save what it can of its interests in Lebanon, as the Lebanese opposition is upping the stakes.
• EGYPT /ARAB LEAGUE VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- Arab League foreign ministers met in Cairo in preparation for an Arab summit to be held later this month in Algeria. Although the topic was not on their agenda, the foreign ministers spent much of the day discussing the continued presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon. The foreign ministers expressed solidarity with Syria, but also indicated the need for Damascus to pull its troops out of Lebanon.
• EGYPT / ARAB LEAGUE VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- The foreign ministers of the Arab League are meeting in Cairo, in preparation for an Arab summit to be held, later this month, in Algiers. It will be the first such meeting of the 22-member organization since the Palestinian and Iraqi elections and the resignation of the pro-Syrian government in Lebanon.

• TSUNAMI / RED CROSS VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are meeting in Hong Kong to map out the long-term response to last December's deadly tsunami. Organizers say humanitarian agencies still face major challenges even as the tsunami's immediate impact begins to fade.
• ASIA/TSUNAMI INITIATIVE VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- Asian leaders agree the region must put mechanisms in place now to deal with future disasters on the scale of last December's tsunami.

• MOLDOVA / ELECT ANALYSIS VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- Voters in Moldova are to elect a new parliament Sunday, in an election President Bush said will allow the country to demonstrate its democratic capabilities. The election will be watched closely in Europe and abroad as the new 101-seat parliament will elect Moldova's president later this year.

• SAUDI / ELECTIONS VOA 03 Mar 2005 -- Voters in Saudi Arabia flocked to the polls in the continuation of a three-stage voting process to elect local council members. Voting took place in the eastern and southern provinces of the country, as the kingdom begins a cautious process of reform.

• RIGA AUTHORITIES ALLOW FORMER SS LEGIONARIES PROCESSION RIA Novosti 03 Mar 2005 -- Maris Tralmaks, Riga executive director, allowed Thursday former Waffen-SS legionaries to walk along the streets of the city on March 16, the Riga Duma told RIA Novosti.

• LOCKHEED MARTIN ROLLS SECOND RETURN TO FLIGHT TANK TO THE BARGE Lockheed Martin 03 Mar 2005 -- Under its Return to Flight plan, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has finished retrofitting the second Space Shuttle External Tank, designated ET-121, and will roll the tank to the barge for transport to Kennedy Space Center at 2 p.m. Friday, March 4 at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.