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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 04 Dec 2006 [PDF]
• Two Soldiers killed, two others wounded
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Announces Army Soldier as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown
• CENTAF releases airpower summary for Dec. 4 AFPN 04 Dec 2006 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Dec. 4.
• Iraqi Forces Capture Insurgents; Iraqi Children Wounded by Rocket Attack AFPS 04 Dec 2006 -- Iraqi forces captured eight suspected insurgents and provided security in a northern Iraqi town, coalition forces foiled a mortar attack, and two Iraqi children were wounded by a rocket-propelled-grenade attack yesterday and Dec. 2 throughout Iraq, military officials reported.
• US Helicopter in Iraq Comes Down in Water VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- The U.S. military in Iraq says one Marine died and three others are missing after a military helicopter made an emergency landing into water in western Iraq.
• Canadian Ship Rescues 18 in Persian Gulf Navy NewsStand 04 Dec 2006 -- Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Ottawa rescued all 18 crew members of a sinking Indian-flagged dhow Dec. 1 after receiving a distress call in the Southern Persian Gulf.
• NMCB 74 "Empowers" Iraqi Police Navy NewsStand 04 Dec 2006 -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 aided members of the Iraqi Police Nov. 30 by providing much needed electrical work at the police station in Zangora, a small town on the outskirts of Ramadi.
• Oiler Completes Japan's 700th Refueling in Arabian Sea Navy NewsStand 04 Dec 2006 -- Japanese oiler JDS Mashu (AOE 425), part of Escort Division 8, conducted a replenishment at sea with the German navy frigate, FGS Schleswig-Holstein (F-216), Nov. 27, marking Japan's official 700th refueling of a U.S. or coalition ship since Nov. 2, 2001.
• Renewed Taleban Insurgency Straining Pak-Afghan Ties VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- Pakistan announced Monday that its foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, will go to Afghanistan Friday for a three-day visit
• NATO Forces Report Killing Estimated 80 Taleban Insurgents VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- NATO forces say they have killed more than 70 Taleban insurgents during violent clashes in southern Afghanistan
• National Guard Responds to Midwest Winter Storms AFPS 04 Dec 2006 -- Hundreds of National Guardsmen responded over the weekend and today to devastating winter storms in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, National Guard officials reported.

Defense Policy / Programs

• US Senate Opens Hearings on Defense Secretary Nominee Tuesday VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- A U.S. Senate panel Tuesday holds a hearing on the nomination of former CIA Director Robert Gates to be defense secretary
• Analysis: Great Expectations for Gates cfr.org 04 Dec 2006 -- Robert M. Gates is the choice of a politically weakened administration to prosecute a war increasingly seen as militarily unwinnable.
• Tortuga's VBSS Team Achieves Certification Navy NewsStand 04 Dec 2006 -- More than a year after USS Tortuga's (LSD 46) Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team initiated its in-depth training cycle, members from Afloat Training Group (ATG) Western Pacific certified the team Nov. 14.
• Essex Offloads 31st MEU in Okinawa Navy NewsStand 04 Dec 2006 -- USS Essex (LHD 2), with help from the embarked Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 5, Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 1, as well as helicopter support from the Marine Air Combat Element (ACE), offloaded nearly 1,500 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Marines and 664 tons of equipment after completion of the annual fall patrol Nov. 29-30.
• Craddock Takes Reins of U.S. European Command AFPS 04 Dec 2006 -- Army Gen. John Craddock took the reins of U.S. European Command during a change of command ceremony at Patch Barracks here today.
• 'Nothing Happens Until Something Moves' Illustrates TRANSCOM Mission AFPS 04 Dec 2006 -- A Post-It note over one of the computers in the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center here says, "Nothing happens until something moves."
• Active C-130 unit unites with Wyoming ANG AFPN 04 Dec 2006 -- The U.S. Air Force has proven active duty and citizen Airmen can successfully operate together daily with the right amount of communication and the right amount of heart - just ask the Airmen of the 30th and 187th Airlift Squadrons at the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing.
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 04 Dec 2006
• Press Briefing by Tony Snow The White House 04 Dec 2006

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for December 04, 2006
• Boeing Demonstrates Interoperability between TSAT and BAE Systems' Airborne Lasercom Risk Reduction Terminal Boeing 04 Dec 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] recently demonstrated communication capabilities between its Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) laser communications terminal and BAE Systems' Airborne Lasercom Risk Reduction Terminal (ALT), which included a telescope, optical bench assembly, and closed-loop pointing and tracking hardware.
• BAE SYSTEMS TO SUPPLY ADDITIONAL REFUELING SYSTEMS TO U.S. ARMY BAE Systems 04 Dec 2006 -- BAE Systems received a $31.6 million order from the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command for 119 portable combat helicopter refueling systems.
• Raytheon Awarded $161.8 Million for Production of TOW ITAS Precision Guidance Systems Raytheon 04 Dec 2006 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) will extend production and delivery of Improved Target Acquisition Systems (ITAS) under a $161.8 million contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Huntsville, Ala
• Thales will deliver communication services to NATO in Afghanistan Thales 04 Dec 2006 -- Thales and the NATO C3 Agency (NC3A) have signed an important amendment to the contract concerning the supply of secure communication services (voice and data) for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. For a minimum period of three years, Thales will be responsible for the provision, operation and maintenance of a complete network deployed on more than 60 points of presence in country (ISAF HQ, Regional Centres, Provincial Reconstructions Teams, Forward Support Bases, Operational Monitoring and Liaison Teams...). The system will be progressively deployed on the theatre of operations so as to back up the ISAF expansion in Afghanistan.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT United Nations 04 Dec 2006
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT United Nations 04 Dec 2006
• PRESS CONFERENCE BY BOTSWANA PRESIDENT ON DIAMOND CERTIFICATION PROCESS United Nations 04 Dec 2006
• General Assembly backs Kimberley Process to prevent diamonds from funding conflict UN News Centre 04 Dec 2006 -- The General Assembly today passed a resolution backing the Kimberley Process, a global initiative involving governments, the international diamond industry and civil society aimed at preventing so-called "conflict diamonds" from funding warfare and civil unrest.
• PRESS CONFERENCE ON HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE ON ELIMINATING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION BY UNITED NATIONS PERSONNEL United Nations 04 Dec 2006
• Sudan: UN warns Darfur remains volatile, despite relatively few incidents this week UN News Centre 04 Dec 2006 -- The situation in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur remains volatile, although there were fewer incidents than usual reported over the past week, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.
• Security situation improving in troubled southern Sudanese town, says UN mission UN News Centre 04 Dec 2006 -- The security situation inside the southern Sudanese provincial capital of Malakal is steadily returning to normal, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the country has reported, after last week's outbreak of deadly violence in the town.
• CHAD: UN evacuations continue as fighting hits Guereda IRIN 04 Dec 2006 -- The town of Guereda in eastern Chad has become the latest battleground in a string of skirmishes between the government and rebels that have forced aid workers helping Sudanese refugees to flee.
• UN office to support national reconciliation in volatile Central African Republic UN News Centre 04 Dec 2006 -- Responding to the volatile situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) - an impoverished country bordering Chad and Sudan - the United Nations office there plans to support national reconciliation, strengthen democracy and promote good governance, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a letter released today.
• Annan names Special Envoy to help resolve northern Ugandan conflict UN News Centre 04 Dec 2006 -- In an effort to bring a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in northern Uganda while addressing its wider regional ramifications, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano his Special Envoy to help deal with the issue of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and its brutal 20-year-long rebellion.
• CAR: Government troops recapture rebel-held towns IRIN 04 Dec 2006 -- The Central African Republic (CAR) army has recaptured two more towns in the north of the country that were occupied in November by rebels opposed to President François Bozize.
• Israel to Reduce West Bank Military Operations VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- Israeli officials said Monday they will reduce military operations in the occupied West Bank

News Reports

• President Bush Accepts Ambassador John Bolton's Resignation as U.S. Representative to the United Nations The White House 04 Dec 2006
• President Bush Accepts Resignation of U.N. Envoy Bolton Washington File 04 Dec 2006 -- President Bush has accepted "with deep regret" the resignation of U.S. Representative to the United Nations John Bolton.
• US Envoy Bolton to Leave UN Post VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- John Bolton says he will leave government service when his temporary appointment as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations runs out in a few weeks
• Man Killed in Beirut Clash as Opposition Protests Continue VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- The political crisis in Lebanon has turned deadly for the first time since open-ended anti-government protests began Friday
• Fiji's Military Turns up Pressure on Embattled Government VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- Soldiers have set up roadblocks in the Fijian capital and disarmed police amid signs the military is preparing to overthrow the government
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Celebrates Re-Election VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- Venezuelan election officials say President Chavez has won re-election with more than 60 percent of Sunday's vote
• Analysis: Six More Years of Chavez cfr.org 04 Dec 2006 -- On Sunday, Venezuelans reelected President Hugo Chavez, whose socialist-inspired policies and anti-U.S. rhetoric have resonated with the poor
• Pinochet in Serious Condition After Heart Attack VOA 04 Dec 2006 -- The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has suffered a heart attack. He is said to be in a serious but stable condition in a hospital in Santiago
• Alcatel Alenia Space signs a Euro 661 million contract with Globalstar Thales 04 Dec 2006 -- Alcatel Alenia Space today announced it has signed a Euro 661 million contract with Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and individuals, to provide their second-generation satellite constellation. Per this contract, Alcatel Alenia Space, as prime contractor, will design, manufacture and deliver 48 low-earth-orbit (LEO) Globalstar satellites as well as launch support services prior to and during the launches and mission operations support.