Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 04 Sep 2007 [PDF]
• Transcript: DoD News Briefing with Secretary Gordon England, Paul Brinkley and Minister Fawzi Hariri at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va. 04 Sep 2007 -- Presenter: Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, Business Transformation and Director, Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations-Iraq Paul Brinkley, and Iraq's Minister of Industry and Minerals Fawzi Hariri
• Coalition Troops Kill Three Terrorists, Detain 17 AFPS 04 Sep 2007 -- Coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained 17 during operations around Iraq today.
• Al Asad Airmen load, help deliver new 'Buffaloes' AFPN 04 Sep 2007 -- Airmen from the 438th Air Expeditionary Group Aerial Port Flight from Al Asad Air Base helped deliver four new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Category III Buffalo vehicles to ground troops in and throughout Iraq Aug. 28.
• Operation Hit and Run results in eight detained MNF-I 04 Sep 2007 -- Soldiers of the "Denali Squadron" detained eight suspected al-Qaeda members and confiscated four AK-47 assault rifles during Operation Hit and Run, an air assault mission Sept. 1.
• Operation Gecko: Concerned citizens lead Coalition Forces to cache, destroy militia safehouse MNF-I 04 Sep 2007 -- Tips from concerned citizens of Jurf as Sakhr led Iraqi Coalition Forces to identify and destroy an enemy safehouse and discover a weapons cache Aug. 28 as part of Operation Gecko.
• Provincial Reconstruction Teams Are Improving Lives in Iraq Washington File 04 Sep 2007 -- Driving through Ramadi in Iraq's Anbar province recently, the team leader of the newly formed Provincial Reconstruction Team noticed that on a Friday when people usually were not out on the streets, there were shop owners painting their shops.
• U.S. Chopper Makes Unscheduled Landing; Taliban Attack Thwarted AFPS 04 Sep 2007 -- A coalition helicopter made an unscheduled landing in Afghanistan today without injury to its crew or passengers, while Afghan and coalition forces thwarted a Taliban attack near Firebase Anaconda, in Oruzgun province, U.S. officials reported.
• Afghan Officials: Taleban Leader Involved in Korean Kidnapping Killed VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- Afghan officials say police have killed one of the Taleban leaders responsible for the kidnapping of 23 South Korean volunteers last month
• AFGHANISTAN: Opium production, addiction soar in Helmand Province IRIN 04 Sep 2007

Defense Policy / Programs

• Air Force medical group saves thousands with AFSO 21 AFPN 04 Sep 2007 -- Members of the Fairchild Air Force Base medical group saved more than $75,000 in emergency room visit costs over the past year through a just-do-it initiative, a program associated with Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century.
• New global logistics unit to be headquartered at Scott AFPN 04 Sep 2007 -- Air Force Materiel Command officials announced Aug. 30 that the Global Logistics Support Center headquarters will be located at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
• Defense Department Responds to Cyber Threats, Official Says AFPS 04 Sep 2007 -- The Defense Department receives many attempted cyber attacks each day and has measures in place to aggressively respond to and deter these attacks, a department spokesman said today.
• Coalition Exercise Focused on Improving Combat Identification Army News 04 Sep 2007 -- U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Fires Integration and Interoperability Team will deploy with an eight-nation coalition to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin Calif., Sept. 7-19 to assess technologies designed to reduce friendly fire incidents and enhance combat effectiveness.
• First Strike Ration Heading to Warfighters Army News 04 Sep 2007 -- A new compact, eat-on-the-move assault ration is well on its way to warfighters' hands.
• Wasp Serves as Floating Command Center for FA PANAMAX 2007 Navy NewsStand 04 Sep 2007 -- Multinational naval and civil officers have joined forces at sea with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Wasp (LHD 1) to strengthen cooperation among dozens of foreign vessels sailing near the Panama Canal in Exercise Fuerzas Alidas (FA) PANAMAX 2007, off the coast of Panama in the Caribbean.
• Comfort's Mission Connected with Technology Navy NewsStand 04 Sep 2007 -- Electronic communications are crucial for the crew members aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), and would be impossible without e-mail, satellites, shared drives and the information technology team, which has kept the ship wired for success during the past two-and-a-half months.
• Pacific Northwest Welcomes Back USS John C. Stennis Navy NewsStand 04 Sep 2007 -- USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) returned to its homeport at Naval Base Kitsap Bremerton, Aug. 31.
• American, Brunnei Sailors Conduct Joint Operations Navy NewsStand 04 Sep 2007 -- More than 240 Sailors aboard USS Jarrett (FFG 33) teamed up with Royal Brunei Navy personnel off the coast of Brunei Aug. 9 to conduct joint exercises as part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2007.
• Floating Hospital Helps Hundreds in Haiti Navy NewsStand 04 Sep 2007 -- Joint service and non-governmental volunteers attached to Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) provided humanitarian medical assistance to hundreds of patients in Port-au-Prince on Sept. 3.
• President Bush Visits Diego Garcia Navy NewsStand 04 Sep 2007 -- After spending most of Labor Day with U.S. troops serving in Iraq, President George W. Bush made a very brief morning visit Sept. 4 to one of the U.S. Navy's most remote duty stations in the world: the U.S. Navy Support Facility (NSF) on the island of Diego Garcia, in British Indian Ocean Territory.
• China denies hacking Pentagon computers RIA Novosti 04 Sep 2007 -- The Chinese government has officially denied U.S. accusations that it hacked the Pentagon's computer systems in June, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.
• Bush, Putin to discuss U.S. missile plans at Sydney APEC summit RIA Novosti 04 Sep 2007 -- George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin are to discuss U.S. plans for anti-missile technology in Europe at an September 8-9 Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney, a Russian presidential aide said Tuesday.
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 04 Sep 2007

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for September 04, 2007
• Northrop Grumman Receives Contract Worth Up to $462 Million for Guardrail Modernization Northrop Grumman 04 Sep 2007 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), the prime contractor for the U.S. Army's RC-12 Guardrail aircraft fleet, has been awarded a Guardrail Modernization system integration contract to continue upgrading and enhancing the system, extending Guardrail's operational life beyond 2020.
• Boeing Awarded $20.6 Million Contract for AWACS Radar Frequency Antennas Boeing 04 Sep 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a three-year, $20.6 million U.S. Air Force contract to build antenna radio frequency processors and associated electronics for the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS)-Electronic Systems Measures (ESM) program.
• Northrop Grumman to Demonstrate Newest LITENING Targeting System During U.S. Joint Forces Command's 'Bold Quest' Exercise Northrop Grumman 04 Sep 2007 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will demonstrate the latest generation of its LITENING Advanced Targeting (AT) pod, an advanced precision targeting and sensor system, during "Bold Quest," a U.S. Joint Forces Command-sponsored military exercise scheduled for Sept. 12-15 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
• Boeing Demonstrates FAB-T Interoperability with Milstar Satellite Boeing 04 Sep 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has successfully demonstrated for the first time that its Family of Advanced Beyond line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) system can acquire an operational satellite and complete downlink data transmissions.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN TEAM SHIFTS INTO PRODUCTION EFFORT TO ADD GPS DEMONSTRATION SIGNAL TO MODERNIZED SATELLITE Lockheed Martin 04 Sep 2007 -- A Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]-led team has begun production activities to reconfigure a modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellite to include a new demonstration payload that will temporarily transmit a third civil signal following a successful review with the Air Force.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 04 Sep 2007
• UN counts on field commanders in meeting peacekeeping challenges - Migiro UN News Centre 04 Sep 2007 -- With more peace operations, and more men and women in the field, than at any other time in the history of the United Nations, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today called on field commanders to help the world body meet the "daunting challenges of contemporary peacekeeping."
• More than 220 militants killed by Lebanese Army since May - minister RIA Novosti 04 Sep 2007 -- More than 220 militants belonging to the al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam movement were killed and more than 200 captured by the Lebanese Army in a 15-week operation to root them out of a refugee camp, Lebanon's defense minister said Tuesday.
• 222 Militants Killed in Lebanon Camp Battles VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- Lebanon Defense Minister Michel al-Murr says that 222 Fatah al-Islam militants were killed and more than 200 others were captured during the 105-day siege of a Tripoli Palestinian refugee camp.
• Senior UN official hails Lebanese seizure of refugee camp UN News Centre 04 Sep 2007 -- A senior United Nations official welcomed the Lebanese army's full seizure over the weekend of the Nahr el-Bared camp, which has been the scene of months of intense combat with Fatah el-Islam gunmen.
• Israel's Supreme Court Orders Changes in West Bank Barrier VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- Israel's construction of a controversial separation barrier in the occupied West Bank has suffered a legal setback in the nation's highest court
• Egypt Warns of Regional Instability Without Palestinian Peace VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- Egyptian officials have told European politicians a peace conference that fails to achieve a breakthrough between Israelis and Palestinians will add to anger, frustration, and extremism in the Middle East
• Israel's Supreme Court Orders Section of West Bank Barrier Moved VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the government to move a section of the West Bank separation barrier that has kept some Palestinians from reaching their fields.
• OPT-ISRAEL: Weak Palestinian economy having direct humanitarian impact - UN official IRIN 04 Sep 2007 -- The Palestinian economy is "totally dependent on political considerations" of outside powers, and its "development prospects are bleak under the Israeli internal and external movement restrictions," a new UN report says.
• UN's Ban Ki-moon Supports Sudan Comprehensive Peace Plan VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he fully supports the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended Sudan's decades-long civil war
• UN Secretary-General Urges Cease-Fire in Darfur VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he has urged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to implement an immediate cease-fire in Darfur
• ETHIOPIA: Government denies 'blocking' NGO IRIN 04 Sep 2007 -- The Ethiopian government has denied claims by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) that the medical NGO was being prevented from working in the troubled Somali region. MSF claimed in a statement that it was prevented from responding to escalating health and nutritional needs and the region faced a "humanitarian crisis".
• SOMALIA: Displaced families overwhelm Lower Shabelle town IRIN 04 Sep 2007 -- Local authorities in Merka, Lower Shabelle region, 100km south of the Somali capital Mogadishu, have warned that thousands of displaced people seeking refuge in the town desperately need assistance.
• Sierra Leone: UN envoy praises agreement between presidential candidates UN News Centre 04 Sep 2007 -- The senior United Nations envoy to Sierra Leone has welcomed the agreement of the leaders of the country's two major political parties on measures to try to calm rising tensions ahead of this Saturday's presidential run-off election.
• Thousands more civilians flee new clashes in eastern DR Congo, UN reports UN News Centre 04 Sep 2007 -- Thousands of Congolese civilians are on the move in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) strife-torn North Kivu province, fleeing their homes amid reports of renewed fighting, cases of rape, and rising tensions between Government forces, renegade troops and rebel groups, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.
• Mediators Meet to Speed up Peace Process in Ivory Coast VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- Rebel and presidential representatives from the Ivory Coast have met in Ouagadougou to evaluate the progress in the country's peace process
• BURUNDI: Hundreds flee as 20 die in rebel clashes near capital IRIN 04 Sep 2007 -- Hundreds of families fled their homes in the northern suburbs of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, as factions of the rebel Forces nationales de libération (FNL) clashed, leaving 20 fighters dead.
• Russian Mediator: Direct Talks on Kosovo Later This Month VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- A Russian mediator says Serbian representatives and leaders of the ethnic Albanian majority in Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province will hold direct talks later this month.

News Reports

• Analysis: September's Battle Lines cfr.org 04 Sep 2007 -- Congressional chambers will echo with talk of Iraq (The Hill) as lawmakers return from recess this week, but Congress' agenda is likely to be crowded with other tough foreign policy issues as well
• US Rejects Burmese Constitution Process as 'Total Sham' VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- The United States Tuesday dismissed as a "total sham" the outline for a new Burmese constitution produced by a national convention assembled by the country's military government
• Bush Arrives in Sydney for APEC Summit VOA 04 Sep 2007 -- President Bush has arrived in Australia to attend the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit