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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
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Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 03 Jun 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

• Two Iraqis dead following vehicle crash into Bradley MNF-I 03 Jun 2005 -- Two Iraqi civilians were killed in a vehicle accident between a Coalition forces vehicle and an Iraqi civilian vehicle at about 6:10 a.m. June 3 near Khalis in Diyala Province .
• Airmen guard camp, detainees in Iraq AFPN 03 Jun 2005 -- Airmen here are performing jobs normally reserved for deployed Soldiers. They are escorting patrols and convoys, helping provide force protection for an Army camp and guarding detainees.
• 26th MEU hones urban skills in the sand USMC News 03 Jun 2005 -- Marines from Battalion Landing Team 2nd Bn., 8th Marines, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), conducted urban warfare live-fire training recently at the military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) facility at Udairi Range, Kuwait.
• 3/4 "Docs" train for the worst USMC News 03 Jun 2005 -- Twenty-three corpsmen with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, Regimental Combat Team-8, conducted a mass casualty drill here, May 31.
• 26th MEU conquers the night to sustain convoys USMC News 03 Jun 2005 -- Echo and Golf Companies with support from Combined Anti-Armor Team "Bravo," as well as CAAT "Alpha," all with Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Bn., 8th Marines, conducted tactical convoy re-supply operations recently during the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit's (Special Operations Capable) current training exercise at Udairi Range.
• 1/5 Marines teach Iraqis ways of the warrior, produce capable ISF USMC News 03 Jun 2005 -- While a majority of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment's frontline forces patrol the urban battlefield hunting for insurgents, a platoon of Marines with Company B have a different role in the securing of this city and the restoration of its infrastructure - training Iraqi Security Forces.
• 2nd LAR supports RCT-2, Operation Matador USMC News 03 Jun 2005 -- Marines of Company B, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team-2 (RCT-2) stand on top boxes of meals-ready-to-eat so they can see out of a light armored vehicle and scan an Iraqi village in the distance, watching for insurgents trying to escape the town as U.S. Marines were clearing it during Operation Matador here May 7-15.

• Analysts: Bid for Closer US-Afghan Ties Fuels Low-Level Afghan Insurgency VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- When Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited the United States last month, he and President Bush signed a "strategic partnership." Just what that entails remains vague.
• AFGHANISTAN: UN counter-narcotics chief sees signs of hope in poppy eradication IRIN 03 Jun 2005 -- Poppy farmers have demonstrated restraint in the cultivation of the lucrative cash crop and the country has made progress in the interdiction of drug supplies in Afghanistan, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Wednesday at the end of his two day visit to the world's largest poppy growing country.
• U.N. Suspends Afghan Mine Clearing VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- The United Nations has suspended its mine-clearing operations in southern Afghanistan after a roadside bomb killed two deminers and injured five others.
• B-52 aids ground troops under small arms fire AFPN 03 Jun 2005 -- A B-52 Stratofortress from the 40th Air Expeditionary Group dropped three joint-direct attack munitions recently on a cave of anti-coalition forces in Afghanistan, killing two and leading to the capture of 10 others by coalition ground forces.

Defense Policy / Programs

• HOOD COMPLETES KORAN INQUIRY SOUTHCOM 03 Jun 2005 -- Brigadier General Jay Hood, commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo, completed his inquiry into the validity of allegations of Koran mishandling by U.S. personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, yesterday.
• Enclosure 1: Description of Incidents [PDF]
• Enclosure 2: Excerpts from JTF-Guantanamo, Standard Operating Procedures, Dated 01 FEB 05T [PDF]
• Statement by Pentagon Spokesman Mr. Lawrence Di Rita on BG Hood Inquiry 03 Jun 2005
• US Military Details Koran Mishandling at Guantanamo VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- The U.S. military has provided details of five incidents in which it says soldiers or interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention center mishandled copies of the Koran, but the military says its investigation confirmed that no Koran was ever flushed in a toilet, as a now withdrawn magazine report claimed last month.

• US to Start Military Exercises with Nine West African Nations on Monday VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- In what is being billed as one of the largest deployments of U.S. forces in northern Africa since World War Two, more than one-thousand U.S. troops are in West Africa for counter-terrorism training. The exercises, which will include military forces from nine countries in the region, are part of a broader U.S. effort to increase anti-terrorism cooperation with West African nations.
• Former Mayor and Defense Official Offer BRAC Advice AFPS 03 Jun 2005 -- Two officials who have experience with base realignment and closure - one the former mayor of an affected city and the other who directs the Defense Department office charged with helping affected cities meet economic challenges, have written some insights they hope will be of value to communities that may lose facilities in this year's BRAC round.
• Keel Laid for First Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom Navy NewsStand 03 Jun 2005 -- The keel was laid and authenticated for the Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) June 2 at Marinette Marine here.
• Vandegrift, Canberra Team Up Navy NewsStand 03 Jun 2005 -- USS Vandegrift (FFG 48) and the Australian ship HMAS Canberra (FFG 02) completed combined operations May 19 while transiting through the Philippine Sea and Pacific Ocean.
• Cushing Conducts Historic Port Visit Navy NewsStand 03 Jun 2005 -- USS Cushing (DD 985) made history May 27 as the ship anchored in the Russian port of Petropavlask, by becoming the first U.S. Navy ship to visit the port since World War II.
• 31st MEU Marines work toward special operations qualification USMC News 03 Jun 2005 -- Marines with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, currently serving as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's battalion landing team, conducted unit training on procedures for military operations in urban terrain May 23-27 as part of the MEU's workup toward its special operations capable qualification in October.

• White House Daily Briefing, June 3 Washington File 03 Jun 2005 -- Canada/Virgin Atlantic flight 45 update, president's schedule, Russia/Georgia, North Korea/six-party talks, British Prime Minister Blair's U.S. visit, UK/Africa, Lebanon/Syria, campaign contributions, Iraq, Rumsfeld in China, judicial nominations, Haiti, week ahead, OAS/new Secretary General
• State Department Briefing, June 3 Washington File 03 Jun 2005 -- Department / Sec. Rice welcomes McCormack as spokesman / Trafficking in Persons report / Amb. Dobriansky meeting with ambassadors / Sec. Rice attendance at OAS summit / aid to fragile democracies / Inter-American Democratic Charter, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Sudan, G8, Iraq, Bolivia, Aruba, Greece/Cyprus

Defense Industry

• Lockheed Martin Awards Personnel Recovery Vehicle Facility Study Contract to L. Robert Kimball & Associates Lockheed Martin 03 Jun 2005 -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has awarded the Ebensburg, PA-based architecture firm of L. Robert Kimball & Associates a contract to study candidate locations and preliminary design configurations for a possible Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) integration facility at Lockheed Martin Systems Integration - Owego. The value of the study is approximately $200,000.
• EADS to deliver digital radio network for Brazilian federal police force EADS 03 Jun 2005 -- EADS will be delivering a digital radio network based on the Tetrapol standard to Brazil’s Departamento de Polícia Federal. The network will initially be set up in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and in the capital city of Brasilia, where it will begin operation in 2006.
• EADS naval radars equip Norwegian coast guard vessels EADS 03 Jun 2005 -- EADS will supply the Norwegian Coast Guard with their very successful TRS-3D naval radar to improve surveillance of Norway’s coastal waters and to guide helicopters safely in extreme weather conditions.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 03 Jun 2005
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ON SEPTEMBER 2005 HIGH-LEVEL MEETING United Nations 03 Jun 2005
• Global Survey Says Armed Conflict Down, Risk Remains in Africa, Muslim World VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- Traditional warfare and separatist conflicts have been declining over the past 15 years, but 20 percent of all nations still face a serious risk of armed conflict. Those are the findings of a global survey from the University of Maryland's Center for International Development and Conflict Management. The report says the areas of greatest risk are sub-Saharan Africa and the Muslim world.

• Russia: New Chechen Resistance Leader Vows No More Hostake Takings RFE/RL 03 Jun 2005 -- Abdul-Khalim Sadullaev, the successor to slain Chechen President and resistance leader Aslan Maskhadov, told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service in a 3 June interview that he strongly condemns terrorism and said it is not part of the resistance's policy.
• Chechnya: Kidnapped Relatives Of Slain Leader Released RFE/RL 03 Jun 2005 -- Seven of the eight relatives of slain Chechen independence leader Aslan Maskhadov who were kidnapped in December 2004 have been freed. Those freed include two brothers, a sister, and a niece of Maskhadov. It is still unclear who had held them and where. Human rights activists have said the abductions were the work of Russian troops or their Chechen militia allies attempting to pressure Maskhadov. But Russian authorities have denied such accusations.

• Security Council extends mandate of UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire UN News Centre 03 Jun 2005 -- The Security Council today extended for three weeks the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire and the French troops supporting it, "with a view to renewing it for seven months" and raising the possibility that it might expand the UN operation in the West African country.
• U.N. Threatens Sanctions on Warring Parties in Ivory Coast VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- The U.N. Security Council is threatening sanctions against Ivory Coast's former warring parties unless they abide by an April peace agreement.
• COTE D IVOIRE: UN delays signing off on peacekeeper reinforcements IRIN 03 Jun 2005 -- Peacekeepers in war-divided Cote d'Ivoire will have to wait at least another three weeks for reinforcements, the UN Security Council said on Friday at the end of a week of ethnic violence that critics said highlighted how stretched the force in the West African nation was.

• Zoellick Calls for More African Union Police in Darfur Washington File 03 Jun 2005 -- More African Union police should be deployed in refugee camps in Darfur to help stop attacks against civilians across the region, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick stressed June 3.

• Peacekeeper Killed, Aid Workers Kidnapped in Congo VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- One United Nations peacekeeper has been killed, and three others were injured when gunmen in Congo's lawless Ituri district attacked U.N. helicopters. The continued attacks and news that a French aid worker and his driver were kidnapped underline the instability in Ituri, even though the United Nations says it has disarmed nearly all the 15-thousand fighters it targeted there.
• DRC: Newly integrated army brigade heading to the east IRIN 03 Jun 2005 -- The latest brigade in the newly integrated army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) completed training on Wednesday and is expected to deploy to the east of the country, Defence Minister Adolphe Onusumba said.
• DRC: UN Nepalese soldier dies after militia attack IRIN 03 Jun 2005 -- One of four UN Nepalese troops wounded by militiamen in an attack in village of Lugo in the northeastern Ituri district of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), died of his wounds on Friday, a UN spokesman said.

• Kashmiri Leaders Demand Inclusion in India-Pakistan Peace Process VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- Separatist leaders from the disputed territory of Kashmir say India and Pakistan cannot resolve the conflict, without involving the people of Kashmir in the peace process.
• Bosnia: Videotape Appears To Show Serb Murder Of Srebrenica Victims RFE/RL 03 Jun 2005 -- A smoking gun has come to light in the case of the 10-year-old Srebrenica massacre. Serbian authorities have obtained a videotape that shows, in graphic detail, Serbian paramilitary police torturing and killing Muslim men at Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina in July 1995.

News Reports

• EU: Union Teeters On Brink Of Crisis After Constitution Setbacks RFE/RL 03 Jun 2005 -- Divisions are becoming apparent among EU member states and even within the European Commission over whether proceeding with the ratification of the European constitution after failed referendums in France and the Netherlands is a good idea.
• Lebanon President Asked to Resign over Journalist's Death VOA 03 Jun 2005 -- Lebanon's opposition is calling for the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, following the assassination of an anti-Syrian journalist.
• NASA CHOOSES JUPITER AS NEXT MAJOR SPACECRAFT DESTINATION Lockheed Martin 03 Jun 2005 -- NASA has announced the second mission in its New Frontiers Program: a mission – called Juno to fly to Jupiter – that now will proceed to a preliminary design phase. At the end of the preliminary design study, the mission must pass a confirmation review that will address schedule, technical and cost risks before being confirmed for the development phase.