Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Mar 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIER DIES

• Security operations continue to net gains in Mosul area MNF-I/MNC-I 18 Mar 2005 -- Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), detained 22 suspected terrorists during operations in northern Iraq March 18.
• U.S. Soldiers training Iraqi troops Army News 18 Mar 2005 -- Field Artillery Soldiers from the 1st Armored Division are teaching Iraqi troops the skills they will need to secure an area of northwest Baghdad.
• Iraqi soldiers net large weapons cache Army News 18 Mar 2005 -- Iraqi security forces discovered two weapons caches this week and thwarted a kidnapping attempt at a central Baghdad bank.
• 3/8, Company K works rain or shine USMC News 18 Mar 2005 -- The enduring rain didn't stop Sgt. Winston T. Daley and the rest of Company K as it patrolled the muddy streets of Nasser Wa Saalam.

• Coalition Maritime Forces Intercept Hijacked Vessel Navy NewsStand 18 Mar 2005 -- U.S. Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Munro (WHEC 724), working with British ships HMS Invincible (R05) and HMS Nottingham (D91) in the Gulf of Aden, intercepted a hijacked Thai fishing vessel at around noon March 17.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Department of Defense Releases the National Defense and the National Military Strategies 18 Mar 2005 -- The Department of Defense (DoD) released its National Defense Strategy (NDS) and National Military Strategy (NMS) today. These strategies outline an active, layered approach to the defense of the nation and its interests. They seek to create conditions conducive to respect for the sovereignty of nations and a secure international order favorable to freedom, democracy, and economic opportunity. The strategies promote close cooperation with others around the world who are committed to these goals and address mature and emerging threats.
• U.S. / DEFENSE STRATEGY VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- The U.S. Defense Department has published two documents outlining the U.S. strategy for winning the war on terrorism and preparing for future conflicts. The documents call for an active military and civilian policy designed to minimize threats around the world, and to be able to respond decisively when necessary.

• Peter B. Teets Announces Departure 18 Mar 2005 -- The Hon. Peter B. Teets announced his resignation today as Acting Secretary of the Air Force and director, National Reconnaissance Office effective March 25. Teets came to the Air Force in December 2001 from private industry.

• RUMSFELD / KOREA VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says the reduction and redeployment of U.S. forces in South Korea is long overdue, and will not hurt the effort to deter any aggressive action by North Korea. Mr. Rumsfeld spoke in response to a question from a U.S. army sergeant at a "town hall" meeting at the Pentagon Friday.
• International Cooperation 'Crucial' to U.S. Defense Policy AFPS 18 Mar 2005 -- The United States can't win the global war on terrorism all by itself, a senior DoD official noted here today, drawing on conclusions from recent discussions among the department's top policy specialists.
• Pentagon Town Hall Meeting Produces Broad Range of Questions AFPS 18 Mar 2005 -- Questions popped up on everything from space programs to transformation to recruiting and retention at today's Pentagon town hall meeting.
• Specials Ops Requests Funding to Modernize, Transform AFPS 18 Mar 2005 -- A continued need for modernization and transformation of special operations forces brought that community's leaders to Capitol Hill March 17 to testify on their portion of the president's military spending request.
• Predator fleet to expand AFPN 18 Mar 2005 -- Air Force officials plan to expand the current Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle fleet to as many as 15 squadrons.
• Officials release QF-4 drone accident report AFPN 18 Mar 2005 -- Failure of an unmanned QF-4E drone to react properly to controller inputs led to its intentional destruction during a mission Sept. 8 over White Sands Missile Range near Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., according to an Air Force report released March 18.
• 2005 Technology Exposition introduces latest inventions USMC News 18 Mar 2005 -- The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association hosted their annual technology exposition at Marston Pavilion March 16 in order to create an environment where service members and civilians could interact with the latest state-of-the-art technology used in the military.
• 22nd MEU refines Tactical Air Control Party procedures with a bang USMC News 18 Mar 2005 -- Forward air controllers and radio operators with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit recently braved the harsh North Carolina winter to perfect their skills guiding attack and strike aircraft onto target.
• B-52 fleet benefits from radar test AFPN 18 Mar 2005 -- Testers here discovered a problem with the B-52 Stratofortress' radar transmitter system that affected the entire fleet of bombers.

• Speech by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Secretary General at the ICI Seminar NATO 18 Mar 2005

• EU/MILITARY RESPONSE VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- The European Union is working to have rapid reaction force ready to deploy to trouble spots around the world within five days notice.

• White House Daily Briefing, March 18 Washington File 18 Mar 2005 -- White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan briefed the press March 18 aboard Air Force One en route to Pensacola, Florida
• State Department Briefing, March 18 Washington File 18 Mar 2005 -- China/human rights, India, Ukraine, Turkey, Moldova, Syria/Lebanon, Iran, death of George Kennan, Nowruz celebration message, Israel/Palestinian Authority, Nepal, Colombia

Defense Industry

• Eurocopter proudly announces the official acceptance of the first HAP Tiger by the Délégation Générale pour l’Armement EADS 18 Mar 2005 -- This decisive step not only marks the qualitative acceptance of the helicopters in terms of performances and systems, but also the start of deliveries, which will continue without a break until 2010.
• Northrop Grumman Completes First Fuselage Section for U.S. Navy's Next-Generation Electronic Attack Aircraft Northrop Grumman 18 Mar 2005 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) today celebrated completion of the first fuselage section for the U.S. Navy's next-generation, electronic attack aircraft at a ceremony held before hundreds of employees.
• Snecma and Sagem merge, changing name to SAFRAN Sagem (Safran group) 18 Mar 2005 -- Sagem SA Supervisory Board met today under the Chairmanship of Mario COLAIACOVO and noted the success of the public offer initiated by Sagem over SNECMA shares. The number of SNECMA shares involved represents more than 83% of the capital and 94.4% of the shares which could be tendered.
• MOLDOVA'S EX-PRESIDENT: MIG-29 SALE CASE LOOKS POLITICAL RIA Novosti 18 Mar 2005 -- Moldova's ex-President Petru Lucinski claims that the case of MiG-29 sale to the United States in 1997 is a purely political one and therefore should be closed. The sale decision was the only correct one at that time, he added.
• Ukrainian Official Says Missiles Exported To Iran, China RFE/RL 18 Mar 2005 -- Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun is quoted as saying Ukraine exported 12 cruise missiles to Iran and six to China in 2001.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 18 Mar 2005
• PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR BURUNDI United Nations 18 Mar 2005
• Burundi on track in peace process but development funding not materializing, UN says UN News Centre 18 Mar 2005 -- Burundi is successfully following its long peace process after decades of sporadic conflict, but a rebel hold-out around the capital is causing donors to be wary of providing humanitarian support or investment funds, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for that African Great Lakes country said today.
  
  
• COLOMBIA / KIDNAP VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- Relatives of Colombians and Americans kidnapped by Marxist rebels in Colombia are urging the U.S. and Colombian governments to do more to win the hostages' release. The family members say both countries are turning a blind-eye to the problem.
• NEPAL / HUMANITARIAN CRISIS VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- The United Nations and other international agencies are warning that Nepal stands on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, due to the deepening conflict between security forces and communist guerrillas. The United Nations is urging both sides to protect civilians.
• ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- Israel on Friday welcomed a temporary truce declared by Palestinian militants, and promised to hold its fire, but demanded that the Palestinian Authority eventually dismantle the armed groups.
• INTERNALLY DISPLACED VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- A new report finds more than eight-thousand people flee their homes every day because of civil wars and human rights abuses. The report released in Geneva by the Norwegian Refugee Council estimates 25 million people are internally displaced in some 50 countries around the world.
• DRC: UN seizes weapons in Ituri IRIN 18 Mar 2005 -- Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) seized guns and ammunitions on Wednesday in the embattled northeastern district of Ituri, the UN Mission there, known as MONUC, said.
• COTE D IVOIRE: Mbeki tries new tack to break deadlock as tension mounts on ground IRIN 18 Mar 2005 -- After four months of failed attempts to break the deadlocked peace process in Cote d'Ivoire, South African President Thabo Mbeki is hoping to host the key players in the conflict at face-to-face talks in the next few days, one of his aides said on Friday.

News Reports

• Ambassador George Kennan VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- In the aftermath of World War Two, Soviet advances stunned Washington. At that time of confusion and indecision, a State Department career officer, George Kennan, proposed a so-called containment policy that came to guide U-S-Soviet relations throughout the Cold War and ended with the victory he had predicted. The veteran diplomat has died at age 101.

• LEBANON CRISIS: 'DEMOCRATIC REFORMS ARE ON THE WAY' US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign Media Reaction 18 Mar 2005

• ACEH/AID EXTENSION VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- The Indonesian government says it needs continued foreign help to rebuild its tsunami-devastated Aceh province. Relief agencies will be allowed to stay in Aceh another two months.
• MACEDONIA POL VOA 18 Mar 2005 -- NATO, the European Union and western governments are calling on Macedonian leaders to insure that the second round of local elections to be held March 27th are free of the irregularities that marred the first round of voting March 13th.