Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 02 Aug 2007 [PDF]
• Two Task Force Marne Soldiers hit with indirect fire
• Soldiers attacked during combat logistics patrol
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• MND-B Soldier killed during combat operations
• Aug. 1 airpower summary: F-15Es provide close-air support AFPN 02 Aug 2007 -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations Aug. 1, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
• Coalition Forces Capture Two Alleged Senior al Qaeda Leaders AFPS 02 Aug 2007 -- Coalition forces captured two alleged al Qaeda emirs, killed four terrorists and detained 21 suspected terrorists during Iraq operations over the past two days.
• Individual Augmentee Sailors Returns to Naval Station Everett Navy NewsStand 02 Aug 2007 -- Four individual augmentee (IA) Sailors from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) returned to Naval Station Everett July 24 after a year-long deployment in support of the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) unit in Baghdad.
• AFGHANISTAN: NGOs question new government directive on armed escorts IRIN 02 Aug 2007 -- Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior has ordered Afghan security forces not to allow foreign aid workers to travel outside Kabul without an armed escort, a government official told IRIN.
• Afghanistan in Increasingly Better Position Says U.S. Official Washington File 02 Aug 2007 -- Ahead of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's meetings with President Bush, a senior State Department official says Afghans and their government have "a lot . to be proud of" in terms of their accomplishments since the 2002 overthrow of the Taliban regime.
• US Pressuring Taleban to Free South Korean Hostages VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- A U.S. official says Washington is doing all it can to pressure Taleban kidnappers who are holding 21 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan
• Taleban, South Korean Official to Meet on Hostage Crisis in Afghanistan VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- The Taleban in Afghanistan says it has agreed to hold direct talks with a top South Korean official about the release of 21 South Korean hostages.
• Military Force Ruled Out For Now, in South Korea's Afghanistan Hostage Crisis VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- Senior South Korean and U.S. officials say they have agreed to hold off on using military force to free 21 Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Pentagon Accidentally Sold Parts for Iranian Fighters VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- Investigators from the U.S. Congress say earlier this year the Defense Department sold more than a 1,000 parts for aging fighter jets that are now only used by Iran, in spite of a ban on such sales
• Army Boosts Enlistment Bonuses AFPS 02 Aug 2007 -- In an effort to bolster the growth of the Army by more than 34,000 soldiers, Army officials are implementing a new bonus for recruits who sign up by the end of this fiscal year.
• First Army Brings Alerted Brigade Leadership Together for Planning Strategies Army News 02 Aug 2007 -- As the United States approaches its sixth year in the war on terrorism, America's Army Reserve Components continue to play a historic, unprecedented and vital role in the conflict.
• Precommissioning Unit George H. W. Bush 1000th Sailors Reports Aboard Navy NewsStand 02 Aug 2007 -- Pre-commissioning Unit (PCU) George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) reached a milestone July 20 with the arrival of its 1,000th Sailor.
• Chilean Sailing Ship Esmeralda Visits Guam Navy NewsStand 02 Aug 2007 -- U.S. Naval Base Guam welcomed a rare visitor to the island when the Chilean sailing ship Esmeralda (BE-43) pulled into Apra Harbor July 20.
• SOUTHCOM Commander Visits NAVSO, USS Mitscher Navy NewsStand 02 Aug 2007 -- Commander, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) visited his Navy component, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command, and the guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57) July 30.
• USS Buffalo Crew Visits Guam Navy NewsStand 02 Aug 2007 -- From scuba diving to enjoying the sites, USS Buffalo (SSN 715) crew members said they are looking forward to their time on Guam after arriving July 19.
• Nassau Arrives in Maine for Lobster Festival Navy NewsStand 02 Aug 2007 -- USS Nassau (LHA 4) arrived in Rockland on Aug. 1 to participate in the annual Lobster Festival.
• Train with Russian armor leaves military base in Georgia RIA Novosti 02 Aug 2007 -- A train carrying military equipment left a Russian base in Georgia early Thursday as part of a 2006 deal to withdraw all Russian bases from the ex-Soviet Caucasus state, a Russian military official said.
• Press Briefing by Tony Snow The White House 02 Aug 2007
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 02 Aug 2007

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for August 02, 2007
• Boeing KC-767 Tanker Win Would Benefit Florida Economy Boeing 02 Aug 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced that Florida will benefit from an estimated 1,100 direct and indirect jobs if it is selected to build the U.S. Air Force's new tanker aircraft fleet.
• Raytheon Secures Contract to Equip Australian F/A-18F Super Hornets Raytheon 02 Aug 2007 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has been awarded a $24.4 million U.S. Navy contract to equip Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornets with the ALR-67(V)3 digital radar warning receiver.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 02 Aug 2007
• PRESS CONFERENCE ON SECURITY COUNCIL PROGRAMME OF WORK FOR AUGUST United Nations 02 Aug 2007
• African Issues to Dominate Security Council's August Agenda VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- The Republic of Congo has assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council
• Rice Calls for Substantive Mideast Peace Meeting Washignton File 02 Aug 2007 -- An upcoming international meeting on Israeli-Palestinian efforts to achieve a two-state solution will be a forum for substantive discussions, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Palestinian journalists in Ramallah August 2.
• Rice Promises 'Substantive' Mideast Conference VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says there is a consensus among potential participants that the conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict she is to host this autumn must be substantive
• Condoleezza Rice Calls For Deeper Israeli-Palestinian Talks VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Palestinian leaders Thursday on the final day of her Middle East tour aimed at gaining support for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference later this year
• AU Officials Believe Members Will Contribute New Troops for Darfur VOA 02 Aug 2007 -- African Union officials say they are optimistic that member states will contribute more troops to a new hybrid peacekeeping force for the troubled western Darfur region of Sudan
• UN: New Force Authorized For Darfur Conflict RFE/RL 02 Aug 2007 -- The UN Security Council has approved a resolution to provide a so-called "hybrid" force of 26,000 UN and African Union peacekeepers for the western Sudanese province of Darfur, which has been beset by pro-government militias for four years.
• EU mulls peacekeeping mission in Darfur - Solana RIA Novosti 02 Aug 2007 -- The European Union is considering the possibility of sending peacekeepers to Sudan's Darfur province, the European foreign policy chief said Thursday.
• COTE D'IVOIRE: Blocking roads, blocking peace IRIN 02 Aug 2007 -- Harassment, extortion and physical assault are rampant at Côte d'Ivoire's ubiquitous roadblocks and unless stopped the scourge will make true peace and stability impossible, Ivorians say.
• SRI LANKA: Conflict disrupts ongoing demining effort IRIN 02 Aug 2007 -- When a massive mine-clearing programme was launched in Sri Lanka in 2002, officials faced a problem: their wooden warning signs, with the distinctive skull and cross-bones, kept disappearing.
• CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Civilians in northwest still afraid of going home IRIN 02 Aug 2007 -- Thousands of people who fled their homes in northwestern Central African Republic are reluctant to return despite improved security conditions, the International

News Reports

• Analysis: Thawing Arctic's Resource Race cfr.org 02 Aug 2007 -- A team of Russian explorers, including two members of parliament and more than one hundred scientists, has embarked on a journey that represents the first expedition (LAT) ever sent to the North Pole's seabed
• Russia: Explorers Make Historic, Symbolic, Trip To North Pole Seabed RFE/RL 02 Aug 2007 -- The head of today's expedition, famed Russian polar explorer and parliamentarian Artur Chilingarov, spoke just before two of the country's minisubmarines plunged 4,200 meters beneath the surface of the Arctic Ocean.
• Russian Explorers Plant Flag On North Pole Seabed RFE/RL 02 Aug 2007 -- Russian media report that Russian explorers have made a historic dive into the Arctic Ocean in two submersibles and planted a Russian flag on the seabed.
• Russian Arctic mission aims to scientifically prove shelf claim RIA Novosti 02 Aug 2007 -- Russia's foreign minister said the Arctic expedition currently underway is designed to demonstrate scientifically that the energy-rich shelf near the North Pole is an extension of Russian territory.
• Russian scientists begin North Pole dive to back territorial claim RIA Novosti 02 Aug 2007 -- Russian researchers are preparing to dive beneath the ice at the North Pole to gather scientific data and back the country's claim to a vast energy-rich Arctic territory, the Vesti 24 satellite channel said Thursday.