Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 04 Mar 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• FOUR SOLDIERS KILLED IN AL ANBAR PROVINCE
• SOLDIER KILLED, ONE INJURED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT

• Transcript: Combined Press Information Center Briefing via Satellite from Baghdad, Iraq 04 Mar 2005 -- Director, Iraq Project And Contracting Office Charles Hess; Director, Iraq Reconstruction Management Office Ambassador Bill Taylor; Commander, Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Brigadier General Thomas Bostick
• One killed and two wounded at Baghdad check point MNC-I/MNF-I 04 Mar 2005 -- At approximately 8:55 p.m. on March 4, Coalition Forces assigned to the Multi-National Force-Iraq fired on a vehicle that was approaching a Coalition checkpoint in Baghdad at a high rate of speed.
• No relief for anti-Iraqi insurgents MNC-I/MNF-I 04 Mar 2005 -- Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces detained 42 individuals suspected of insurgent activity and confiscated weapons in northern Iraq March 3.
• Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces detain ten MNC-I/MNF-I 04 Mar 2005 -- Coalition Forces and Iraqi Security Forces detained ten people suspected of terrorist activity in northern Iraq March 3.
• U.S. Soldiers seize weapons cache MNC-I/MNF-I 04 Mar 2005 -- U.S. soldiers of B Company, 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force recently discovered a weapons cache within a residence located northeast of Forward Operating Base Dogwood.
• ITALY/HOSTAGE RELEASE VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- U.S. military officials say U.S. forces in Iraq have fired on a car carrying a freed Italian hostage, injuring her and killing another passenger. An Italian government agent escorting the journalist was killed in the incident.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ SHOOTING VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- The U.S. military has acknowledged that coalition forces fired at the car carrying freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena in Baghdad Friday evening, but says the vehicle was approaching a checkpoint at a high rate of speed.
• Italian Journalist Injured at Checkpoint After Gaining Freedom AFPS 04 Mar 2005 -- Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was injured today when coalition forces fired on a vehicle that was approaching a checkpoint in Baghdad at high speed, Multinational Force Iraq officials announced in a written statement.
• Airmen track terrorists off base AFPN 04 Mar 2005 -- To keep Balad Air Base, Iraq safe and secure, the Airmen of Task Force 1041 venture off base daily to take the fight to the enemy.
• Four Hours in Fallujah can be exhuasting USMC News 04 Mar 2005 -- Spending only four hours with Regimental Combat Team 1 can prove to be exhausting but eventful. Just ask Sgt. Michael S. Smith, a section leader for RCT-1's personal security detachment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
• VMA-311 changes hands in Iraq USMC News 04 Mar 2005 -- Lt. Col. Robert Kuckuk took control of Marine Attack Squadron-311 from Col. Clyde Woltman during a change of command ceremony in Al Asad, Iraq, Monday.
• MACS-1 returns from deployment USMC News 04 Mar 2005 -- After seven months of helping fight the war on terrorism, 250 Marines and two sailors from Marine Air Control Squadron-1 returned to station Feb. 27.

• First Woman Provincial Governor Named in Afghanistan AFPS 04 Mar 2005 -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai appointed the country's first woman governor March 3, coincidentally, during the opening days of Women's History Month.
• Afghanistan: RFE/RL Interviews Former Taliban Involved In Reconciliation Talks RFE/RL 04 Mar 2005 -- Habibullah Fawzi, a former Taliban diplomat at the Afghan Embassy in Riyadh, is one of four senior former Taliban members who have responded to an amnesty offer by the Afghan government.

• U.S. Military Provides 'Logistical Backbone' for Tsunami Relief Washington File 04 Mar 2005 -- The following article was written by Ralph A. Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS, for the eJournal USA: Foreign Policy Agenda titled "Improving Lives: Military Humanitarian and Assistance Programs." The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government. There are no republication restrictions.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Transcript: Air Force Press Conference on Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program 04 Mar 2005 -- Acting Secretary of the Air Force Peter B. Teets
• Army Secretary Vows to Resolve Soldier Pay Problems AFPS 04 Mar 2005 -- The Army's senior civilian vowed to push efforts to resolve soldiers' pay issues during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing March 3.
• First B-2s deploy to Andersen AFPN 04 Mar 2005 -- B-2 Spirit bombers have deployed here for the first time to support Pacific Command's security efforts in the Western Pacific.
• Integrated training smoothes future joint operations AFPN 04 Mar 2005 -- As the face of battle has changed with more and more multiservice operations, interservice training for all ranks is becoming an increasing necessity to win the fight on global battlegrounds, officials said.
• Guardian Challenge 2005 canceled AFPN 04 Mar 2005 -- Guardian Challenge, the Air Force's annual space and missile competition, has been canceled for 2005 to allow Airmen to focus on real-world deployments and ease budget constraints, Air Force Space Command officials said.
• AMC stands up first contingency response wing AFPN 04 Mar 2005 -- Air Mobility Command stood up the Air Force's first contingency response wing here March 1.
• AKO Supports Army Library Program Army News 04 Mar 2005 -- Army Knowledge Online is partnering with Army Libraries to provide a broad scope of Army information that is readily accessible 24 hours a day.
• History of the challenge coin USMC News 04 Mar 2005 -- Military Unit Coins. Throughout the Corps, one can find these medal artifacts displayed proudly by Marines at their desks and in their offices. Some are simple and colorless. Others are ornate, filled with intricate designs and etchings. All of them have a story behind them.
• USS Lake Erie Makes Naval History Navy NewsStand 04 Mar 2005 -- The guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) returned to Pearl Harbor on Feb. 25 after participating in the latest Missile Defense Agency (MDA) test of the AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program and the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3).

• ITALY/RUSSIA VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, said Friday his country reserves the right to launch preventive strikes on suspected terrorist bases outside the national territory. Mr. Ivanov's comments follow talks in Florence with his Italian counterpart.
• IVANOV SURPRISED AT GEORGIA'S REACTION TO RUSSIA'S POSSIBLE ANTI-TERRORIST STRIKES RIA Novosti 04 Mar 2005 -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov is surprised at Georgia's permanent attention to Russia's possible attack on terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge.

• GEORGIA READY TO OFFER TERRITORY FOR NATO BASES RIA Novosti 04 Mar 2005 -- Georgia is ready to offer NATO its territory for temporary use, chairman of the defense and security committee of the Georgian parliament Givi Targamadze told Novosti-Georgia. He was commenting on the conclusion of the Georgian-NATO agreement on giving support to the NATO forces and personnel and ensuring transit by the receiving side.

• AWACS PLANES NOT ADMITTED IN KYRGYZSTAN RIA Novosti 04 Mar 2005 -- The Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan has described the US Ambassador's remark that American spy planes could be deployed in the country as a misunderstanding.

• State Department Briefing, March 4 Washington File 04 Mar 2005 -- Lebanon/Syria, Iraq/Syria, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Cuba, Northern Ireland, Venezuela, Mexico, East Asia/Pacific Region, China, Israel/Palestinians, Turkey, Iran/IAEA
• White House Daily Briefing, March 4 Washington File 04 Mar 2005 -- President's schedule, Bush phones Portuguese Prime Minister-designate Socrates, Syrian/Lebanon, Iran, Social Security, week ahead

Defense Industry

• U.S. Army Awards General Dynamics $90 Million Contract Option for MK80 Series Bomb Body Production General Dynamics 04 Mar 2005 -- The U.S. Army Field Support Command at Rock Island, Ill., has awarded General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), an $89.7 million contract option for the production of MK80 Series Bomb Bodies. This award is the second option of a multiple year contract, originally awarded in March 2003 and brings the total contract value to date to $257M.
• Lockheed Martin's JASSM Successful in Flight Test Lockheed Martin 04 Mar 2005 -- A Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), the world’s first stealthy cruise missile, was successfully launched Thursday from an F-16 aircraft and precisely navigated through its first verification flight test at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The missile successfully struck the target as planned.
• Northrop Grumman's LITENING Targeting System Nears 10,000 Combat Flight Hours on Marine F/A-18s Northrop Grumman 04 Mar 2005 -- The U.S. Marine Corps' fleet of F/A-18D Hornet aircraft is nearing 10,000 combat flight hours with LITENING AT targeting and navigation systems produced by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC).
• RAFAEL's RCWS Means Improved Survivability for IDF Forces Rafael 04 Mar 2005 -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have purchased from RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd. Remote Controlled Weapon Stations – RCWS ("Katlanit") in a contract valued at approximately US$20M.
• RUSSIAN FIGHTERS TO REPLENISH MALAYSIA'S AIR FORCE FLEET RIA Novosti 04 Mar 2005 -- Within the next two years Malaysia plans to give up seven US fighters F-5E in favor of the Russian Su-30MKM, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Defence Zainal Abidin Zin stated on Thursday.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 04 Mar 2005
• Chief of troubled UN mission in DR of Congo will finish pressing agenda before leaving UN News Centre 04 Mar 2005 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met today with the chief of the UN peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), William Lacy Swing, to review the situation in a mission dogged by deadly clashes in the troubled eastern region of the country and by sex scandals.
• DRC: UN troops killed 50 militiamen in self-defence, Annan says IRIN 04 Mar 2005 -- A recent operation in which UN peacekeepers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) killed 50 militiamen was "an attempt to defend themselves and a determination to fulfil their mandate as effectively as they can," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday
  
  
• UN / SUDAN VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has scheduled a meeting with the Security Council Monday to discuss the situation in Sudan, particularly Darfur.
• Nepal extends detention of former PMs by two months IRNA 04 Mar 2005 -- Ignoring international pressure to release all political prisoners, Nepal government has extended the house-arrest terms of six senior leaders of various parties, including two former prime ministers, by two months.
• UN and regional bodies can aid each other in curbing conflict, says OSCE chief UN News Centre 04 Mar 2005 -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) told the United Nations Security Council today that both organizations could complement each other in the search for stability and peace in many of the world's crisis flash points.
• BURUNDI: UN envoy makes plea to FNL rebels IRIN 04 Mar 2005 -- The special representative of the UN Secretary-General to Burundi, Carolyn McAskie, has appealed to the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL), the only rebel group that is still fighting, to continue observing a truce as they did on Monday during the constitutional referendum.
• Beslan Suspects Killed In Russian Raid RFE/RL 04 Mar 2005 -- Russian authorities say a police raid has ended in the deaths of five people suspected of aiding in the seizing of a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, last September.

News Reports

• Kazakhstan: Opposition Battles For Opportunity To Challenge President RFE/RL 04 Mar 2005 -- Assurances this week by a senior presidential aide in Kazakhstan that the country's next presidential election is still nearly two years away have highlighted a lack of unanimity on a delicate constitutional debate. The dispute pits those who believe President Nursultan Nazarbaev should be made to honor the seven-year term set out by the constitution against those who believe the scheduled date in late 2006 suits the country just fine. Either way, frustrated opposition leaders are preparing to offer their alternative to seven more years of Nazarbaev rule as soon as possible.

• ZIMBABWE / MERCENARIES VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- A lawyer for more than 60 suspected South African mercenaries jailed in Zimbabwe for their involvement in a coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea says they may return to South Africa on Saturday.

• NEPAL/OPPOSITION VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- Nepal's royalist government has extended the detention of political leaders who were arrested following last month's takeover by King Gyanendra. The move comes despite calls by the international community to restore democracy.

• White House Report, March 4: Syria/Lebanon Washington File 04 Mar 2005 -- President Bush called for the immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence services from Lebanon and said the United States and the international community will not accept "half-hearted measures."
• BUSH / SYRIA VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- President Bush says Syria must completely withdraw its troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon. The president also applauded Saudi Arabia's call for Syria to end its military and political presence in Lebanon.
• BRITAIN / SYRIA VOA 04 Mar 2005 -- Britain says the United Nations could increase the size of its peacekeeping force in Lebanon to shore up security in support of a Syrian withdrawal from the country.

• TOGO: Voters to go to polls on 24 April to elect new president IRIN 04 Mar 2005 -- The Togolese authorities have fixed 24 April as the date for presidential elections designed to end weeks of political turmoil following the death of veteran president Gnassingbe Eyadema.

• LOCKHEED MARTIN DELIVERS SECOND RETURN TO FLIGHT EXTERNAL TANK TO NASA Lockheed Martin 04 Mar 2005 -- Lockheed Martin delivered the second retrofitted Space Shuttle External Tank, designated ET-121, to NASA on Friday, March 4 at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. ET-121 will be transported via ocean-going barge to Kennedy Space Center where it is scheduled to fly on the second Return to Flight mission, STS-121, with a launch window that opens July 10. Photos of the ET-121 rollout are available at www.lockheedmartin.com/Michoud