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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 08 Mar 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties

• Transcript: Special Defense Department Briefing 08 Mar 2005 -- Gen. George Casey, USA, Commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq
• Insurgency Weakening; Iraqi Security Forces Growing Stronger AFPS 08 Mar 2005 -- As the second anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom approaches, efforts to help the Iraqi people transition to a constitutionally elected government by the end of 2005 are on track, insurgents are failing in their efforts to break the will of the Iraqi people, and Iraqi security forces "are doing a magnificent job," the U.S. general in charge of coalition forces in Iraq said here today.
• Task Force Liberty Soldiers repel attack MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Mar 2005 -- Task Force Liberty Soldiers defeated a terrorist attack near Ad Dujayal in Salah Ad Din Province about 11:30 p.m., March 7.
• Task Force Liberty Soldiers repel attack MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Mar 2005 -- Task Force Liberty Soldiers defeated a terrorist attack near Ad Dujayal in Salah Ad Din Province about 11:30 p.m., March 7.
• Security Forces win battle with terrorists MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Mar 2005 -- Coalition Forces killed one terrorist and injured another two during an operation in northern Iraq March 7.
• Iraqi police, coalition forces help defend ambushed patrol MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Mar 2005 -- A small arms attack March 7 on an Iraqi logistics convoy and the coalition patrol escorting it brought help from both Iraqi police units in the area and a quick-reaction force unit from the 3rd Infantry Division.
• Joint raids net suspected insurgents, large weapons cache MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Mar 2005 -- Coalition and Iraqi forces executed several joint raids March 5 that resulted in the capture of 17 suspected insurgents and a large bounty of weapons and ammunition, according to a multinational forces report.
• Iraqi Soldiers find large weapons cache MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Mar 2005 -- Iraqi Soldiers patrolling areas near the city captured five suspected terrorists and a large cache of weapons and materials used in making improvised explosive devices.
• 2/5, 1/5 Civil Affairs Groups work together USMC News 08 Mar 2005 -- The five-humvee-convoy snaked through the narrow streets here as the Marines headed to their destination.
• 3rd MAW completes longest deployment in recent history USMC News 08 Mar 2005 -- The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing has completed the longest deployment of its 62-year history.
• Estonian soldiers team up with armor unit to keep supply routes safe Army News 08 Mar 2005 -- One small European country is playing a major role in keeping supply convoys safe while moving through Iraq.

• Afghanistan: U.S. Commander Expects Weaker Taliban Spring Offensive RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- For the past 25 years, violence by militants and factional militias in Afghanistan has typically increased once the spring thaw makes it easier for fighters to move about and stay in the field for long periods. A surge in Taliban attacks is expected again this spring as the country emerges from a particularly harsh winter. But a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says he expects the Taliban's so-called spring offensive to be much weaker than in the past three years.

Defense Policy / Programs

• President Discusses War on Terror The White House 08 Mar 2005 -- National Defense University
• President Outlines Immediate, Long-Term Strategies for Peace AFPS 08 Mar 2005 -- America is pursuing a clear strategy with its allies to win the war on terror and is making progress in helping ensure long-term peace and stability, President Bush said at the National Defense University at Fort McNair here today.
• Bush Praises Allies' Role in Progress Against Terror AFPS 08 Mar 2005 -- The United States is not alone in the war on terror, and America "is more secure today because dozens of other countries have stepped up to the fight," the commander in chief said at the National Defense University at Fort McNair here today.

• US/CHINA MILITARY VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- The new commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon, has expressed concern about the new anti-secession law China's legislature is expected to pass next week.
• U.S. Military Footprint in Europe Changing to Meet Strategy AFPS 08 Mar 2005 -- The U.S. military footprint in Europe is changing as radically as the capabilities of American forces, the NATO's supreme allied commander Europe said in an interview today.
• Wing warping could change shape of future aircraft AFPN 08 Mar 2005 -- An experimental flexible-wing jet has embarked on a final phase of flights over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to demonstrate wing warping performance advantages for future aircraft.
• Battlelab demonstrates new propeller balancing system AFPN 08 Mar 2005 -- The Air Mobility Battlelab recently demonstrated a new in-flight propeller balancing system that can greatly reduce propeller vibration levels and ground maintenance requirements.
• DuBois Sworn In As Acting Under Secretary Of The Army Army News Release 08 Mar 2005 -- Mr. Raymond F. DuBois was sworn in today as the Acting Under Secretary of the Army.
• DuBois sworn in as acting under secretary of Army Army News 08 Mar 2005 -- Raymond F. DuBois was sworn in today as the acting under secretary of the Army.
• Balikatan ends with ceremony in Laguna Army News 08 Mar 2005 -- U.S. and Philippine armed forces have wrapped up their 21st joint exercise known as Balikatan 2005, focusing on humanitarian and civil assistance.
• USS La Salle Leaves Europe for Last Time Navy NewsStand 08 Mar 2005 -- USS La Salle (AGF 3) visited Naval Station Rota Feb. 28 for refueling and to unload ammunition.
• Exercise New Horizons 2005 Begins in Nicaragua Navy NewsStand 08 Mar 2005 -- Members of the U.S. and Nicaraguan military participated in opening ceremonies for New Horizons 2005 at a Nicaraguan military base Chinandega, Nicaragua, March 4.
• CSSD 44 support troops during Battle Griffin 2005 USMC News 08 Mar 2005 -- Combat Service Support Detachment 44 is helping the Marines of Marine Air Ground Task Force 25 make the most out exercise Battle Griffin 2005.

• UN: Bush Chooses Critic Of Organization As New Ambassador RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- U.S. President George W. Bush has nominated an arms-control expert and sharp critic of the UN, John Bolton, to be his new ambassador to that world body. Top U.S. officials pointed to Bolton's long experience with the UN and other multilateral forums and said he would be committed to seeing through UN reform efforts. But UN advocates reacted warily to the announcement, saying it could undermine U.S. efforts at guiding reforms and reviving diplomatic relations damaged by the war in Iraq.

• Statement by the NATO Secretary General on the indictment of Ramush Haradinaj NATO 08 Mar 2005

• State Department Briefing, March 8 Washington File 08 Mar 2005 -- Israel/Palestinians, Iran, China/Taiwan, Iraq/Italy, Lebanon/Syria, Cyprus, Rice/Zoellick meet with former presidents on tsunami relief, Nepal, Kosovo, North Korea, Russia, Turkey
• White House Daily Briefing, March 8 Washington File 08 Mar 2005 -- Visit of King Abdullah of Jordan, tsunami aid, Lebanon/Syria, Middle East, Iran, China/Taiwan, tax cuts, Chechnya

Defense Industry

• Northrop Grumman Reaches Milestone on George H. W. Bush Construction Northrop Grumman 08 Mar 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) reached a construction milestone by lowering the final keel section of the George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) aircraft carrier into place. The 700-ton lower bow unit was joined to the other keel sections in the dry dock and completes the length of the carrier, which is as long as the Empire State Building is tall.
• DARPA Selects Northrop Grumman to Develop Gallium Nitride Components for Future Military Space Communication and Radar Systems Northrop Grumman 08 Mar 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop electronic components made from gallium nitride, a next-generation semiconductor material system that provides vastly improved communications, radar and intelligence capability to the warfighter.
• RAFAEL, ELTA Unveil the Trophy Active Protection System Rafael 08 Mar 2005 -- RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd., as prime contractor and ELTA Systems Group as part of the team, introduce the TROPHY Active Protection System (APS) for Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFV).

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 08 Mar 2005
• Reports Say Chechen Leader Maskhadov Killed RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- Russia says Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed today in a gun battle with federal forces in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt. If confirmed, the action removes a man Moscow considered a terrorist but who was seen by mainstream Chechens as a moderate independence leader.
• Analysis: What Comes After Maskhadov? RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- Chechen President and resistance commander Aslan Maskhadov was killed on 8 March in a special operation in Tolstoi-Yurt, north of Grozny, Russian agencies reported, quoting Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the Russian federal forces in the North Caucasus.
• Russian Army Says Chechen Leader Maskhadov Killed RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- The Russian army says federal troops have killed Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.
• Russia Says Chechen Separatist Leader Maskhadov Killed VOA News 08 Mar 2005 -- Russian security officials say Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has been killed in the Russian breakaway republic.
  
  
• UN administrator urges calm in Kosovo after premier is indicted for war crimes UN News Centre 08 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations administrator for Kosovo today appealed for calm following the resignation of the ethnic Albanian Prime Minister after he was indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal for his role as a guerrilla commander in the 1998-99 fighting that led to the world body running the Serbian province.
• KOSOVO/PRIME MINISTER VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- NATO has sent extra troops into Kosovo in case of ethnic unrest, following the war crimes indictment of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. The Kosovo leader has stepped down saying he plans to surrender to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
  
  
• UN joins African Union to assess peacekeeping needs in Darfur, Sudan UN News Centre 08 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations will join an African Union assessment team going to the troubled Darfur region in western Sudan to find out what is needed to strengthen security for the people caught up in civil strife there.
• CONGRESS/SUDAN VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- Some lawmakers in Congress are pushing for more money to help people in the Darfur region of western Sudan as well as refugees from Darfur who fled to neighboring countries. The lawmakers say humanitarian assistance included in legislation the House of Representatives will consider next week must be increased.
  
  
• SIERRA LEONE/ TRIAL VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- Three members of Sierra Leone's former military government have gone on trial for crimes which include murder, rape, sexual slavery, and use of child soldiers.
• THAILAND/ MILITARY VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- Thailand's military commander says three generals held responsible for the deaths of 85 Muslims in Southern Thailand last year will be removed from their commands. But Muslim leaders are criticizing their punishment too light.

News Reports

• UN envoy seeking Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon holds talks with Europeans UN News Centre 08 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations envoy seeking the withdrawal of some 14,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon held talks with European Union (EU) officials today in Brussels on his way to his second visit to the region in a month.
• BUSH SYRIA VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- President Bush says freedom will prevail in Lebanon as he repeated calls for Syria to withdraw its troops from the country. The appeal came as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Lebanon gathered to show their support for Syria.
• LEBANON / SYRIA VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- Hundreds of thousands of protesters jammed a main square in Beirut to express support for Syrian troops in Lebanon, and to denounce the United States and Israel.
• Middle East: Lebanon's Opposition Puts Aside Differences to Confront Syria RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- In Lebanon, opposition parties calling for Syria to pull its troops from the country include both Christian and Moslem factions. Some say the newly united front that these parties present to the pro-Syrian Lebanese government would not have been possible just a few years ago. That is because reconciliation efforts to bring the country's diverse religious groups together -- whether in the government or the opposition -- remain a tentative process, though there are growing signs of success.
• Middle East: Hizballah Holds Pro-Syrian Rally in Beirut RFE/RL 08 Mar 2005 -- Supporters of the Lebanese Shi'a Hizballah party took to the streets of Beirut on Tuesday to oppose what the party calls foreign interference aimed at pressing Damascus to withdraw its troops. The Hizballah, which has close ties with Damascus, is responding to weeks of protests by opposition parties demanding Syrian troops completely pull out of Lebanon.

• BUSH/CLINTON/TSUNAMI VOA 08 Mar 2005 -- President Bush got an update on tsunami relief efforts Tuesday from his two predecessors, former Presidents Bush and Clinton. All three stressed the importance of helping the victims of the disaster.

• HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT: A 'MASTERPIECE OF AMERICAN HYPOCRISY' US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign Media Reaction 08 Mar 2005