Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 16 Apr 2008 [PDF]
• Marines attacked by IED
• PRESS CONFERENCE: Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, April 16, 2008 MNF-I 16 Apr 2008 -- Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force - Iraq spokesman, provides an operational update. Highlights include the find of an important al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) document
• April 15 airpower summary: Predator strikes enemy AFPN 16 Apr 2008
• Intercepted al-Qaida Letter Reveals Tactics, Strategy AFPS 16 Apr 2008 -- Use silenced guns to kill coalition forces at Iraqi security checkpoints, smuggle weapons in gradual shipments to reduce the risk of detection, and poison Iraq's water supply with nitric acid to spread disease and death.
• Coalition Forces Detain 13 Suspects in Iraq Operations AFPS 16 Apr 2008 -- Coalition forces detained 13 suspected terrorists during operations yesterday and today targeting al-Qaida in Iraq networks in the Tigris River Valley and northwestern Iraq.
• Commander Sees Progress in Afghan Army, Police AFPS 16 Apr 2008 -- The Afghan National Army is growing, and the police force is nearly through its rank and pay reforms, helping eventually to put in place competent, professional security forces across the country, a senior commander there said today.

Defense Policy / Programs

• MILCON: Fort Myer Building DoD's Largest Childcare Center Army News 16 Apr 2008 -- The construction of a 50,831 square-foot Child Development Center is underway at Fort Myer, Va., and when completed it will be the largest childcare facility in the Department of Defense.
• NMCB 4 Welcomes a New Commanding Officer Navy NewsStand 16 Apr 2008 -- Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 4 held a change of command ceremony, April 11 at Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme where Cmdr. Dean A. VanderLey relieved Cmdr. Craig S. Hamer.
• US Official Urges Congress to Pass War Funding Request VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- The Bush administration is warning Congress of potential layoffs at the Department of Defense if they do not approve a $108 billion funding package for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of next month.
• Red Flag-Alaska pilots engage in realistic combat scenarios AFPN 16 Apr 2008 -- Aerial dog-fights between 10 or more jets and dodging simulated missiles may sound like a boss-level of a video game, but it's really the daunting experience of a combat pilot during the Exercise Red Flag-Alaska 08-2 that runs April 3 through 18 at Eielson Air Force Base.
• Navy Reserve Policy Board Meets at NAS JRB Fort Worth Navy NewsStand 16 Apr 2008 -- The National Navy Reserve Policy Board (NNRPB) met at Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) Fort Worth, April 12, to consider, recommend and report to the Secretary of the Navy, policy matters that may affect many Sailors in the Navy Reserve community.
• ECRC Holds First Weapons Qualification Navy NewsStand 16 Apr 2008 -- Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center (ECRC) held its first command weapons qualification at Rodriguez Indoor Range, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, April 14.
• HSL-46 Gets the Golden Wrench Navy NewsStand 16 Apr 2008 -- Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 46 was presented with the coveted Sikorsky Aircraft "Golden Wrench Award" for maintenance excellence, April 10.
• CNO Visits USS Harry S. Truman Navy NewsStand 16 Apr 2008 -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead visited the crew of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) April 15 to address Sailors deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations (AOO).
• DoD Releases List of Qualified Competitors For The $1 Million Wearable Power Prize 16 Apr 2008 -- The Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) today issued the list of qualified competitors for its Wearable Power Prize competition to be held this fall in California
• Chief of Naval Operations Visits Bahrain Navy NewsStand 16 Apr 2008 -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead visited Bahrain April 13-15 to meet with U.S. and coalition leaders as well as Sailors currently deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations (AOO).
• Daily Press Briefing US Dept. of State 16 Apr 2008
• Press Briefing by Dana Perino and Jim Connaughton, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality The White House 16 Apr 2008

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for April 16, 2008
• Boeing Delivers 1st Laser JDAMs Boeing 16 Apr 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has delivered the first Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM) kits to the U.S. Air Force.
• Lockheed Martin Conducts Another Successful Army Tactical Missile System Test Lockheed Marting 16 Apr 2008 -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully launched an ATACMS Unitary missile from a HIMARS launcher equipped with a Universal Fire Control System (UFCS) during a flight test on March 20 at White Sands Missile Range, NM.
• Thales & Panhard announced their agreement of partnership for the future sale of Bushmasters in France Panhard 16 Apr 2008 -- Thales Australia and Panhard are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Bushmaster Family of Vehicles (FOV) in France. With over 470 units delivered to date, Bushmaster is a combat proven highly protected and mobile utility vehicle.
• LOCKHEED MARTIN DELIVERS KEY GROUND SOFTWARE FOR NATION'S SPACE-BASED MISSILE WARNING SYSTEM Lockheed Martin 16 Apr 2008 -- The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] team developing the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) has successfully delivered two key blocks of ground software integral to supporting the program's geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and highly elliptical orbit (HEO) constellation.
• Orbital Successfully Launches Pegasus Rocket Carrying U.S. Air Force's C/NOFS Satellite Orbital Sciences Corp. 16 Apr 2008 -- Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) announced today that its Pegasus® space launch vehicle successfully launched the U.S. Air Force’s Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite into its intended low-Earth orbit.
• Raytheon Wins $61 Million Contract for Global Positioning Receivers Raytheon 16 Apr 2008 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has won a $61 million U.S. Air Force contract to complete the development and certification of next-generation global positioning receivers.
• Russia: Putin Visits Libya For Talks On Energy, Arms RFE/RL 16 Apr 2008 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is traveling to Tripoli to hold talks with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, a visit in which he hopes to secure key energy and arms deals.
• Russia could sign $2-4 bln arms contracts with Libya RIA Novosti 16 Apr 2008 -- Russia's potential arms contracts with Libya could be worth between $2 bln and $4 bln, a Russian defense analyst said on Wednesday.

Other Conflicts

• DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL United Nations 16 Apr 2008
• Kurtzer: Next U.S. President Must Give Priority to Arab-Israeli Talks 16 Apr 2008
• At Least 17 Palestinians, 3 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gaza Clashes VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- At least 17 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were killed in an upsurge of violence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip Wednesday.
• Israel resumes fuel supplies to Gaza power plant RIA Novosti 16 Apr 2008 -- Israel has partially resumed fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip after a week-long cutoff, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Wednesday.
• Three Israeli soldiers, four Palestinian militants killed in Gaza RIA Novosti 16 Apr 2008 -- Three Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian militants were killed in fighting near an oil terminal in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, the Israeli army and Hamas said.
• 3 Israeli Soldiers, 4 Hamas Militants Killed in Gaza Clashes VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- Three Israeli soldiers were killed and several others badly wounded in a clash with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip
• Georgia: Security Council Extends UN Mission By Six Months RFE/RL 16 Apr 2008 -- The UN Security Council has extended until October 15 the mandate of an observer mission to Georgia that was put in place to monitor a 15-year-old cease-fire that ended fighting between separatists and the government in Tbilisi.
• Georgia: Could More Dialogue, Fewer Demands, Be Ticket On Abkhazia? RFE/RL 16 Apr 2008 -- For Georgians and Georgia-watchers, it's a familiar scene that plays out every few years: Tbilisi unveils its latest proposal offering its breakaway region of Abkhazia a promise of political, economic, and cultural rights in exchange for reintegrating with Georgia
• Hopes for political solution in Darfur wilt under military action - UN report UN News Centre 16 Apr 2008 -- The prospect of negotiating a political solution to the Darfur crisis has become ever more remote as both the Sudanese Government and rebels appear determined to pursue a military solution, according to a United Nations report released today.
• Ending conflicts must remain priority for UN and African Union - Ban Ki-moon UN News Centre 16 Apr 2008 -- Preventing and resolving conflicts peacefully must remain high on the shared agenda of the United Nations and the African Union, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a high-level Security Council meeting today at UN Headquarters, calling for deeper cooperation between the two institutions.
• Reunification efforts in Cyprus to move ahead this week, UN says UN News Centre 16 Apr 2008 -- The drive to reunite the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in Cyprus is set to take an important step forward this week with the start of substantive talks among new working groups, according to the United Nations mission on the Mediterranean island.
• UN helps West and Central African countries fight scourge of illicit weapons UN News Centre 16 Apr 2008 -- A two-day United Nations conference seeking to help West and Central African nations bolster their abilities to identify and trace illicit small arms and light weapons kicks off tomorrow in Lomé, Togo.
• DRC: Hidden killers on the loose IRIN 16 Apr 2008 -- The full extent of the threat posed by landmines and other unexploded ordnance in the Democratic Republic of Congo is unknown but the deadly weapons are a daily concern for tens of thousands of displaced people in the east.
• Turkish Air Raid Targets Kurds in Northern Iraq VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- The Turkish military says its warplanes attacked a group of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq as they tried to sneak across the border into Turkey.

News Reports

• PRESS CONFERENCE BY SOUTH AFRICA PRESIDENT United Nations 16 Apr 2008
• Zimbabwe in Spotlight at UN-AU Meeting VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- The United States, Britain and France have expressed their growing concern about the failure of Zimbabwe's election commission to release the results of the March 29 presidential election
• Zimbabwe Opposition Says Lawmaker Among Supporters Arrested VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change says 50 supporters have been arrested since Tuesday
• Strong Language On Zimbabwe At U.N. - But Little From African Leaders VOA 16 Apr 2008 -- The United Nations Security Council in a summit session with African Union leaders took up the crisis in Zimbabwe on Wednesday in New York, producing some of the strongest statements to date on the nation's post-election crisis from the international community, though the African leadership mainly avoided the issue.
• Analysis: Liberation from Africa's Liberators cfr.org 16 Apr 2008 -- As a rule, African leaders are loathe to criticize one of their own
• Europe: How Will Berlusconi's Return Affect EU, NATO, Trans-Atlantic Relations? RFE/RL 16 Apr 2008 -- For the third time, Italians have elected Silvio Berlusconi to lead their country as prime minister