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Operations
Defense Policy
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News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 08 Feb 2006 [PDF]
• MARINE DIES FROM IED ATTACK NEAR BAGHDAD
• MARINE DIES IN NON-HOSTILE VEHICLE ACCIDENT
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• CENTAF releases daily airpower summary AFPN 08 Feb 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials released today's airpower summary.
• Iraqi Troops Impose Tight Security Ahead of Shi'ite Ceremony VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Iraqi authorities have imposed tight security in and around Baghdad and the holy city of Karbala where Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims are converging for a major religious ceremony.
• Afghanistan Welcomes US Decision to Cancel Debts VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Afghanistan has welcomed the decision by leading Western creditors to cancel the country's debts.
• New Delhi Sends Paramilitary Troops to Guard Indian Workers in Afghanistan VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- India says it is sending paramilitary troops to Afghanistan to provide security for Indian civilians working on various development projects in the war-torn country.
• Afghanistan: Are Some Manipulating Rage Over Cartoons To Advance Their Own Agenda? RFE/RL 08 Feb 2006 -- At least 11 people have been killed across Afghanistan during three days of violent demonstrations over the publication of newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad
• RFE/RL Afghanistan Report, Volume 5, Number 3 8 February 2006 -- HOW SOLID IS NEW 'AFGHANISTAN COMPACT'? / KABUL SATISFIED WITH LONDON CONFERENCE RESULTS / ANALYST DETAILS IMPORTANCE OF LONDON CONFERENCE / AFGHAN FOREIGN MINISTER INTERVIEWED ABOUT AL-QAEDA, TALIBAN, AND LONDON CONFERENCE / DESPITE THREATS, FEMALE TAJIK SINGER PERFORMS IN KABUL

Defense Policy / Programs

• Navy to Christen New Guided Missile Destroyer Gridley 08 Feb 2006 -- The newest Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, Gridley, will be christened on Saturday, Feb. 11 during an 11a.m., EST ceremony at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.
• NCWRON 5 Makes History Navy NewsStand 08 Feb 2006 -- Naval Costal Warfare Squadron (NCWRON) 5 made history Feb. 2 during its commissioning ceremony at Outlying Landing Field (OLF) Imperial Beach, making it the first active-duty Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron since the Vietnam War.
• USS Austin Celebrates 41st Birthday At Sea Navy NewsStand 08 Feb 2006 -- Crew members of the amphibious transport ship USS Austin (LPD 4) had twice the reason to celebrate on Feb. 5 and 6.
• Red Flag joins American, allied airpower AFPN 08 Feb 2006 -- Units from across the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Australia and the United Kingdom gathered here for the second part of the Red Flag 06-1 exercise, which started Feb. 6.
• C-5 Galaxy aircraft engine test successful AFPN 08 Feb 2006 -- The Air Force reached a milestone last month in the effort to modernize its C-5 Galaxy fleet.
• DoD Personnel Strategy Changing to Meet Mission Needs AFPS 08 Feb 2006 -- While the Defense Department is busy transforming the military to meet the nation's needs in a changing world, it hasn't turned a blind eye to its civilian workforce, a DoD official said here today.
• Army Far From a Broken Force, Officials Tell Congress AFPS 08 Feb 2006 -- The Army is going through a remarkable transformation and is far from a "broken" force, DoD officials told the House Armed Services Committee today.
• DARPA's Cutting-Edge Programs Revolutionize Prosthetics AFPS 08 Feb 2006 -- Today, thanks to work under way through the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, servicemembers who have lost limbs in the line of duty could experience something almost as revolutionary in the years ahead.
• Wisconsin and Nebraska Civil Support Teams Certified 08 Feb 2006 -- The Department of Defense notified Congress today that Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) of the Wisconsin and Nebraska National Guard are now certified
• Transcript: Media Availability with Secretary Rumsfeld, Gen. Pace, and Representative Hunter following HASC 08 Feb 2006 -- Presenter: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace and Chairman, House Armed Services Committee, Representative Duncan Hunter
• Rumsfeld, NATO Ministers To Discuss Afghanistan and Rapid Reaction Force VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be in Italy Thursday and Friday for an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers that is expected to focus on final preparations for expanding the alliance's role in Afghanistan and for the creation of the NATO rapid response force.
• NATO Commander Says Alliance Transforming with New Missions VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- NATO's supreme allied commander, General James Jones, says the alliance is now deploying its troops far from Europe in places such as Afghanistan and Africa, representing a major change in its mission
• Jones Details NATO Missions, Transformation AFPS 08 Feb 2006 -- Far from being a pact that has had its day, the NATO alliance may have yet to make its major contributions, said the Supreme Allied Commander Europe before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.
• Kyrgyz President Fires Security Officials RFE/RL 08 Feb 2006 -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev today fired two top security officials.
• State Department Briefing, February 8 Washington File 08 Feb 2006 -- Nepal, Israel/Palestinians, Syria/Iran

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for February 8, 2006
• BAE Systems delivers 1,000 transparent armored gun shields for HMMWVS under a U.S. ARMY TACOM contract BAE Systems 08 Feb 2006 -- BAE Systems has delivered the first 1,000 Transparent Armored Gun Shields (TAGS) to U.S. Army troops in Iraq under a contract worth up to $4.7 million from the U.S. Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM).
• Boeing Opens RAF Lakenheath F-15 Distributed Mission Operations Facility Boeing 08 Feb 2006 -- The U.S. Air Force has taken the next step toward its vision of a Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) capability as The Boeing Company {NYSE:BA} opens the newest F-15C Mission Training Center at Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath, England.
• General Dynamics Awarded $289 Million for IED Electronic Counter Measure Systems General Dynamics 08 Feb 2006 -- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been awarded a $289 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command (Quantico, Va.) to develop, design, integrate, produce and install Remote Controlled Improvised Explosive Device (RCIED) Electronic Counter Measure systems. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract also funds logistic, technical and field service support for the high-powered RCIED jamming systems in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
• Raytheon's Quick Kill Achieves a First; Decimates 'Enemy' RPG in Test with Precision Launched Munition Raytheon 08 Feb 2006 -- Raytheon Company's new Quick Kill System is the first active protection system (APS) to destroy a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at close range, using a precision launched warhead with a focused blast. The successful test occurred at a New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology test center Feb. 7, 2006.
• Defense Department Certifies that Raytheon's Core Framework is SCA Compliant with Waivers -- a First in Industry Raytheon 08 Feb 2006 -- The Department of Defense (DoD) has certified that Raytheon Company's Core Framework operating environment is compliant with the government's Software Communications Architecture (SCA). Raytheon is the first company to achieve this milestone.
• Raytheon Receives $60 Million Saudi Arabia Award to Provide Patriot, Hawk Support Raytheon 08 Feb 2006 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $60 million one-year extension to a direct sale contract from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide technical, training and logistics support for the Kingdom's Patriot and Hawk air defense systems.
• The French Defense Procurement Agency has chosen Sagem Défense Sécurité to supply helicopter mission planning systems for French Army Sagem (Safran group) 08 Feb 2006 -- The French Defense Procurement Agency’s (DGA/SPART) has contracted Sagem Défense Sécurité to develop a helicopter crew mission planning module (MPME). By 2008 the system will be used by all French Army Aviation Branch (ALAT) flight crews. It will enable the army to cooperatively plan, carry out and debrief missions.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 08 Feb 2006
• COTE D IVOIRE: Profiles of three Ivorians facing UN sanctions IRIN 08 Feb 2006 -- The United Nations has placed individual sanctions on political figures in Cote d'Ivoire whom it views as blocking efforts to end the country's three year-old civil war. The
• COTE D IVOIRE: UN sanctions Ivorian leaders for first time IRIN 08 Feb 2006 -- The United Nations' Security Council has slapped a 12-month travel ban and assets freeze on three Cote d'Ivoire political figures it accuses of hampering efforts to bring peace to the divided West African nation.
• Warring Sides in Ivory Coast Condemn Sanctions VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Supporters of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and northern rebels are both accusing the United Nations of failing to understand the civil war, after some of their leaders are slapped with sanctions.
• UN experts urge key governments to crack down on arms smuggling to Sudan UN News Centre 08 Feb 2006 -- As weapons continue to enter western Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region while the Government also violates the arms embargo, a United Nations panel of sanctions experts has called on the authorities in neighbouring countries and others to crack down on unofficial shipments.
• SUDAN: Crack down on arms deliveries, UN experts urge IRIN 08 Feb 2006 -- A panel of United Nations experts has urged Sudan's neighbours to crack down on unofficial shipments of arms into the war-torn east African country.
• Voters Go to Polls in Controversial Nepalese Ballot VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Polls have closed in Nepal's controversial municipal elections, which King Gyanendra said would be the first step toward restoring democratic freedoms across the country
• United States Dismisses Validity of Nepali Municipal Elections Washington File 08 Feb 2006 -- The United States has dismissed Nepal's February 8 municipal elections as "a hollow attempt" by King Gyanendra to legitimize his power.
• Hamas Says It Will Decide Palestinian Leadership VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Leaders of the Islamic militant group Hamas wrapped up several days of meetings in Cairo with a warning to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to make changes in Palestinian government without their approval.
• Israel Says it Will Set Final Border After Elections VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Israel's acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, says Israel will keep major settlement blocs in the West Bank in any agreement reached with the Palestinians.
• Death Toll In Chechen Explosion Rises To 13 RFE/RL 08 Feb 2006 -- The death toll from an explosion at a military barracks in Chechnya on 7 February has risen to 13 after one of the injured in the blast died in a hospital today.
• SENEGAL: Former prime minister freed after seven months behind bars IRIN 08 Feb 2006 -- Former Senegalese prime minister, Idrissa Seck, was released from prison on Tuesday after more than seven months in detention on charges of corruption and threatening state security.
• Armenia/Azerbaijan: Cautious Optimism Ahead Of Paris Talks On Nagorno-Karabakh RFE/RL 08 Feb 2006 -- Diplomats are expressing cautious optimism ahead of the 10 February summit between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Paris suburb of Rambouillet
• Philippines Hopes for Peace Deal With Muslim Rebels by September VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- A Philippine government negotiator says Manila hopes to achieve a final peace agreement with Muslim rebels by as early as September, after reaching a preliminary deal on land claims with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

News Reports

• UN: Post-Election Haiti Will Need International Help For Decades VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- The chief of United Nations peacekeeping operations is calling Haiti's elections a good first step on the path to peace and stability
• Annan congratulates Haitians for high turnout in national elections UN News Centre 08 Feb 2006 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today congratulated Haitians for the high turnout of voters in the first round of national elections yesterday and pledged the support of the international community as they seek stability and development.
• Despite Election Day Mishaps, Haitians Vote VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Haitians stayed at the polls into the late hours Tuesday in the first democratic elections since former president Jean Bertrand Aristide went into exile following a violent uprising nearly two years ago.
• Rice Accuses Syria, Iran of Inflaming Muslim Sentiments Over Cartoons VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Syria and Iran have deliberately inflamed Muslim passions over cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked massive protests
• Officials Pledge Continuing US Pressure on Burmese Military Regime VOA 08 Feb 2006 -- U.S. officials say efforts to encourage international pressure on Burma's military government are beginning to pay off as more countries urge the country's ruling military regime to ease its suppression of the democratic opposition.
• EchoStar X Launch Countdown Halted Boeing 08 Feb 2006 -- Sea Launch Company today halted the launch countdown of the EchoStar X mission due to an off-nominal indication from the Ground Support System.
• Alcatel Alenia Space provides the User Ground Segment for Italian Cosmo-SkyMed observation program Thales 08 Feb 2006 -- Alcatel Alenia Space today announced that it will provide the Defense User Ground Segment for the Italian Cosmo-SkyMed earth observation program to the French Ministry of Defense. The Euro 32 million contract has been awarded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) which acts as a procurement agency for the Italian and French Ministries of Defense. This contract is part of the French and Italian inter-governmental agreement to ensure inter-operability and data exchange between Italian Cosmo-SkyMed and French Helios II systems.