Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 21 Jul 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• Report to Congress Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq 21 Jul 2005 -- Presenter: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Lawrence Di Rita
• Close air support MNF-I 21 Jul 2005 -- Soldiers and airmen from 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Liberty destroyed a suspected anti-Iraqi forces weapons cache near Ad Duluiyah with an air strike.
• Algerian Envoy, Attache Reportedly Abducted In Iraq RFE/RL 21 Jul 2005 -- Reports from Iraq are claiming that Algeria's envoy to Baghdad and a diplomatic attache were abducted today in the Iraqi capital.
• Gunmen Kidnap Algerian Envoy in Baghdad VOA 21 Jul 2005 -- Gunmen in Iraq have kidnapped Algeria's top envoy, the second kidnapping of a high-ranking Arab diplomat in the country in less than a month
• Radio Baghdad: Insurgents explode oil pipeline in southern Iraq IRNA 21 Jul 2005 -- Iraqi state Radio Baghdad announced minutes ago that insurgents on Wednesday night exploded an oil pipeline in southern Iraq's Mahmoudiyeh region.
• Sailor Dies From Wounds Suffered in July 15 IED Attack AFPS 21 Jul 2005 -- A sailor assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died today of wounds suffered in a July 15 improvised explosive device attack in Hit, Iraq, military officials in Baghdad reported.

Defense Policy / Programs

• New device counters terrorism, keeps troops alive Army News 21 Jul 2005 -- The Army has developed a new device to thwart terrorist activities while saving service members' lives.
• Peleliu Completes Ammunition Onload With Help From BHR Navy NewsStand 22 Jul 2005 -- The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) completed its ammunition onload July 18-20 in preparation for the ship's upcoming six-month Western Pacific deployment.
• Military Compensation Committee Hears Proposals AFPS 21 Jul 2005 -- The Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation met here July 20 to hear presentations about the current state of military compensation programs and recommendations to improve those programs.
• U.S. Argues Against EU Lifting Arms Embargo Against China AFPS 21 Jul 2005 -- The European Union lifting its arms embargo against China would bring "serious and numerous" consequences, according to a Defense Department report released this week.
• United States Encourages Prompt Bosnian Defense Reform Washington File 21 Jul 2005 -- Expressing support for a "NATO-compatible single military force" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United States has called on that government to rapidly implement military reform recommendations of the Bosnian Defense Reform Commission.

• White House Daily Briefing, July 21 Washington File 21 Jul 2005 -- London bombings, leak investigation, Supreme Court/nomination, North Korea, war on terrorism, Unocal takeover bid, Patriot Act, Chinese currency, Karen Hughes/appointment, Syria/Iraq
• State Department Briefing, July 21 Washington File 21 Jul 2005 -- United Kingdom, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Russia, Turkey/Iraq, Syria/Iraq, Lebanon/Syria

Defense Industry

• BAE SYSTEMS Fires First Round From 38-Caliber NLOS-Cannon BAE Systems 21 Jul 2005 -- BAE Systems has successfully fired the first round from its Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) Concept Technology Demonstrator (CTD) using a Zone 4, 38-caliber cannon tube at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. NLOS-C is the lead manned ground vehicle system under the US Army's Future Combat System program.
• Raytheon's Enhanced Paveway(TM) II Successfully Proves Extended Range Capabilities Raytheon 21 Jul 2005 -- The U.S. Navy has successfully demonstrated the extended range capability of a Raytheon Company dual-mode precision guided weapon that offers flexibility not found in other weapons systems being produced.
• Raytheon Focuses Radar Expertise on Ground Targets in Motion Raytheon 21 Jul 2005 -- Seeking more protection for ground forces without enhancing risk to aviators, the U.S. Air Force has engaged Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), a leader in radar and data exploitation technology, to devise a way for aircraft, from a safe distance, to detect, track and target hostile forces in motion on the ground.
• Raytheon Delivers Next Generation Anti-Jam GPS Sensor for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Raytheon 21 Jul 2005 -- Raytheon Company's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) delivered the first flight-ready GPS system six weeks ahead of its need date for installation in the first F-35 test aircraft.
• Northrop Grumman Opens Integration Lab to Test and Refine Its Fire Scout UAV for the U.S. Army Northrop Grumman 21 Jul 2005 -- On July 19, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) opened its new System Integration Laboratory for the U.S. Army's RQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The laboratory provides a place for the Fire Scout team to test and refine the UAV.
• Raytheon Company Awarded $124.1 Million Standard Missile-3 Contract Raytheon 21 Jul 2005 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $124.1 million contract from the U.S. Navy to build, test and deliver additional Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) rounds to the Missile Defense Agency to meet the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense deployment requirements.
• Thales chosen to secure Galileo Thales 21 Jul 2005 -- Thales has been chosen to specify and design the security policy of the Galileo satellite navigation system.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 21 Jul 2005
• Landmark civil society forum on conflict prevention wraps up at UN UN News Centre 21 Jul 2005 -- As representatives of civil society groups from around the world wrapped up their landmark conference on conflict prevention, a senior United Nations official told some 600 civic leaders gathered at UN Headquarters in New York that development must be seen as "the first line of defence" in defusing potential conflicts and building world peace.

• Israeli-Palestinian relations bedevilled by lack of framework, UN envoy says UN News Centre 21 Jul 2005 -- While it is essential for both Israel and the Palestinians not to lose sight of the immediate goal - Israel's disengagement from Gaza - relations between the two sides are being marred because no agreed framework exists for that pull-out, or for what will happen next, a senior United Nations envoy told the Security Council today.
• Rice Visits Israel, Palestinian Areas To Discuss Gaza Withdrawal Washington File 21 Jul 2005 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she looks forward to discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming days about ways in which the United States can support Israel's evacuation from Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank.
• Palestinians Take Israeli Barrier Issue to UN Security Council VOA 21 Jul 2005 -- The top Palestinian diplomat at the United Nations has accused Israel of using its planned pullout from Gaza as a cover for expanding West Bank settlements and extending a wall around Jerusalem
• Israel Ponders Early Gaza Withdrawal VOA 20 Jul 2005 -- Israeli officials say the government is considering an early withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, following three days of mass anti-disengagement protests that tied up thousands of security forces.
• Israel Ponders Early Gaza Withdrawal VOA 21 Jul 2005 -- Israeli officials say the government is considering an early withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, following three days of mass anti-disengagement protests that tied up thousands of security forces.

• Airlift Support for Darfur Continues Strong as Rice Visits Region AFPS 21 Jul 2005 -- Airlift operations continue at a steady clip as the members of the 86th Aerospace Expeditionary Group work to rotate the first of two brigades of Rwandan troops into the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, the group commander told the American Forces Press Service today.
• Rice Tells Sudan 'Actions Not Words' Bring Credibility VOA 20 Jul 2005 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent the day in Sudan as part of a tour of Africa and the Middle East. During her visit, Ms. Rice urged Sudanese officials to improve the situation in Darfur, and reiterated U.S. support for the country's recently signed north-south peace deal.

• UN says renewed violence affects thousands of civilians in eastern DR of Congo UN News Centre 21 Jul 2005 -- Some of the 65,000 civilians displaced in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during renewed clashes between Government soldiers and armed militias have been slowly returning to the area since United Nations peacekeepers have been deployed there, the mission says.
• UN Steps Up Operations in Congo, Destroys Rwandan Rebel Base VOA 20 Jul 2005 -- United Nations peacekeepers destroyed more Rwandan rebel bases in eastern Congo this week, with Guatemalan special forces and Pakistani commandos torching a headquarters Wednesday after one-thousand gunmen fled into the forests.

• GUINEA: Soldiers sent to quell ethnic tension in Kankan IRIN 21 Jul 2005 -- The government has sent soldiers to calm inter-ethnic tensions in Kankan, a city 600 km east of the capital Conakry, following the murder of a Malinke (Mandingo) youth in the early hours of Thursday morning, local officials told IRIN.
• Groups Vow Fight Against Thailand Emergency Law VOA 21 Jul 2005 -- In Thailand, civic groups, journalists and opposition politicians are vowing to fight new government emergency measures aimed at quelling 18 months of violence in three southern provinces.
• ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UNMEE warns of continuing border incidents IRIN 21 Jul 2005 -- The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has expressed concern over "continuing incidents of violence" along the disputed 1,000 km border between the countries.
• Chechnya Mourns Znamenskoye Attack Victims RFE/RL 21 Jul 2005 -- Russia's republic of Chechnya is observing a day of mourning today for the victims of the separatist attack on 19 July in Znamenskoye that killed at least 15 people and injured nearly 30 others.

News Reports

• Georgia: Suspect In Grenade Incident Confesses In Police Video RFE/RL 21 Jul 2005 -- Georgian police have announced the arrest of a man suspected of throwing a live hand grenade in the direction of President Mikheil Saakashvili and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush during their joint public appearance in Tbilisi on 10 May.
• Shootout Ends Georgian Manhunt For Grenade Suspect RFE/RL 21 Jul 2005 -- Georgian police have announced the arrest of a 27-year-old ethnic Armenian suspected of throwing a live hand grenade in the direction of the Georgian and U.S. presidents during a high-profile public appearance in Tbilisi in May.