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Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 30 Dec 2008 [PDF]
• DoD News: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• Dec. 29 airpower summary: B-1Bs fly combat patrol missions AFNS 30 Dec 2008 -- Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Dec. 29, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
• Iraqis Find Homemade Bomb, Enemy Munitions AFPS 30 Dec 2008 -- Iraqi forces found and neutralized a homemade bomb yesterday and uncovered an enemy munitions stockpile Dec. 28, military officials reported.
• Coalition Targets Haqqani Network in Afghanistan AFPS 30 Dec 2008 -- Coalition forces detained eight suspected militants yesterday, including two members of the Haqqani terrorist group who were the operation’s targets, in the Shamul district of Afghanistan’s Paktiya province, military officials reported.
• TACPs provide vital link between pilots, ground troops AFNS 30 Dec 2008 -- Although they make up one of the Air Force's smallest career fields, their mission leaves a huge impact on the battlefield and can mean life or death for troops on the ground.
• Khyber Operation Seeks To Secure NATO Supply Route RFE/RL 30 Dec 2008 -- Pakistan has launched a major operation against militants in the Khyber Pass who have been attacking supply lines to NATO and U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan
• Pakistan forces open new front against militants IRNA 30 Dec 2008 -- Pakistani security forces opened a new front against militants in a tribal region near border with Afghanistan early Tuesday, officials said

Defense Policy / Programs

• Navy to Commission Aircraft Carrier George H.W. Bush DoD 30 Dec 2008 -- The Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush will be commissioned Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
• Tankers: From a Question Mark to today's fight AFNS 30 Dec 2008 -- Air refueling operations continue to be amazing aerial feats, especially for people who witness the process for the first time.
• TARS pod brings picture into focus AFNS 30 Dec 2008 -- High above Iraq, Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcons fly over suspected terrorist areas, taking high-resolution images with a sophisticated photographic system contained inside a Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System, or TARS, pod.
• B-2 radar modernization program contract awarded AFNS 30 Dec 2008 -- Air Force officials awarded a production contract to the Northrop Grumman Corporation Dec. 29 for the B-2 stealth bomber radar modernization program.
• U.S. Military Team in Israel Reported Safe Despite Attacks AFPS 30 Dec 2008 -- About 100 U.S. European Command soldiers, airmen and Marines deployed to Israel to help set up an early warning radar system reported no close encounters with air strikes or retaliatory attacks along the Gaza Strip, a Eucom spokesman said.
• Soldiers, civilians get pay increase in new year Army News 30 Dec 2008 -- There'll be something extra in everybody's paycheck come January.
• Navy Tests Waters on Home-Based Work Navy NewsStand 30 Dec 2008 -- The Navy announced the Virtual Command Pilot Program, allowing a select group of officers to work from home, even if their new assignment would normally require a permanent change of station.
• USS West Virginia (Gold) Commanding Officer Relieved Navy NewsStand 30 Dec 2008 -- Commander, Submarine Squadron 16/20, Capt. Daniel Mack, relieved Cmdr. Charles Hill, commanding officer of USS West Virginia (SSBN 736) (Gold), Dec. 29, due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.
• Sea trials of Russia's Yury Dolgoruky submarine postponed RIA Novosti 30 Dec 2008 -- Sea trials of Russia's first Borey-class strategic nuclear submarine have been postponed until spring 2009, a high-ranking Navy source said on Tuesday.
• Press Briefing by Deputy Press Secretary Gordon Johndroe The White House 30 Dec 2008

Defense Industry

• DoD News: Contracts for December 30, 2008
• Israel Aerospace Industries' Command and Control System Installed in Urban Situation Room in Ashkelon Israel Aerospace Industries 30 Dec 2008 -- The MC4 System (MLM Command and Control Communication Center) has been activated in the city of Ashkelon's Urban Situation Room since the beginning of operation "Cast Lead" in Gaza.

Other Conflicts

• PRESS CONFERENCE on situation in Gaza United Nations 30 Dec 2008
• Ban, top diplomatic partners call for immediate ceasefire in Israel-Gaza fighting UN News Centre 30 Dec 2008 -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today held a teleconference with his principal international partners in the search for Middle East peace, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and southern Israel as United Nations agencies warned that hundreds of wounded in Gaza hospitals faced a surge in preventable deaths due to lack of medical supplies.
• Egypt Will Not Fully Open Gaza Border Crossing VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says Egypt will not fully open the border crossing into Gaza, unless Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is in control there. Meanwhile, Arab diplomats are preparing to discuss the crisis Wednesday.
• Moderates in Middle East May Suffer if Israeli-Hamas Conflict Continues Unabated VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- Israeli warplanes continue to hit suspected Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, Palestinian militants are keeping up their rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli border communities.
• US Seeking 'Sustainable and Durable' Gaza Cease-Fire VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- The United States stepped-up diplomacy Tuesday aimed at what officials term a sustainable and durable cease-fire in Gaza.
• EU Calls on Israel to Observe Humanitarian Truce in Gaza VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- The European Union, or EU, is calling on Israel to observe a humanitarian truce after a four-day Israeli air offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
• ISRAEL-OPT: Israel allows 60 aid trucks into Gaza IRIN 30 Dec 2008 -- Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, yesterday agreed to allow medical aid and food supplies into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing - even as Israeli military operations continued in Gaza, and Hamas militants fired rockets into southern Israel.
• ISRAEL-OPT: Gaza’s main hospital struggling to cope IRIN 30 Dec 2008 -- Gaza’s main hospital, Al-Shifa, is struggling to cope with the influx of people injured in the Israeli air strikes which started on 27 December, according to medical sources.
• Russian, U.S. foreign ministers urge end to violence in Gaza RIA Novosti 30 Dec 2008 -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke by phone on Tuesday, calling for an end to the violence in the Gaza Strip, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
• Israeli PM Olmert says Gaza campaign in 'initial stages' RIA Novosti 30 Dec 2008 -- Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip is only at an early stage and there are no plans to stop it, the prime minister said on Tuesday during a meeting with the country's president.
• Israeli airstrikes kill 363 in four-day campaign in Gaza RIA Novosti 30 Dec 2008 -- At least 13 Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded overnight as Israel continued to carry out airstrikes on Gaza overnight bringing the death toll to 363, a Palestinian emergencies official said on Tuesday
• New Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- Israel is continuing a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. About 350 Palestinians have been killed, mostly Hamas militants, but also about 60 civilians. Three Israelis have been killed in rocket attacks.
• Israel's Ashdod Hit by Gaza Rocket for First Time VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired a rocket into the Israeli city of Ashdod for the first time, killing an Israeli woman and wounding two other people.
• European Commission Calls for End of Violence in Gaza VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- The European Commission is calling for an immediate halt to hostilities in the Gaza Strip, which has been rocked by a massive military operation by Israeli forces.
• Larijani: Events in Gaza examples of genocide IRNA 30 Dec 2008 -- Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday that what is going in Gaza is a blatant example of genocide
• Gaza human crisis will lead to Israel's annihilation: president IRNA 30 Dec 2008 -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza which will lead to definite annihilation of the regime
• Mottaki deplores International community's inaction on Gaza IRNA 30 Dec 2008 -- Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that the international community is not serious about the Gaza tragedy, deploring inaction to stop the Israeli crimes against humanity
• Protests Against Israel's Assault on Gaza Continue in Middle East VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- Anti-Israel protests erupted throughout the Middle East again on Monday, as Israeli forces continued air strikes against Hamas targets on the Gaza Strip.
• US Welcomes Resignation of Somali President VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- The U.S. State Department on Monday said it supports the decision of Somalia's politically-embattled President Abdullahi Yusuf to resign as head of the country's transitional government. The United States will contribute $5 million to the formation of a joint security force of Somali factions.
• Ban denounces ‘appalling atrocities’ by Ugandan rebels in DR Congo UN News Centre 30 Dec 2008 -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly condemned the “appalling atrocities” reportedly committed by the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan, and demanded that they respect all rules of international humanitarian law.
• PAKISTAN: Growing unease in Kashmir over prospect of war IRIN 30 Dec 2008 -- In the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Muzzafarabad, the possibility of war with India is a topic of discussion heard almost everywhere.
• Pakistan forces open new front against militants IRNA 30 Dec 2008 -- Pakistani security forces opened a new front against militants in a tribal region near border with Afghanistan early Tuesday, officials said
• Pakistan asks India to de-active air bases, re-locate ground forces IRNA 30 Dec 2008 --Pakistani foreign minister Tuesday asked India to de-active its forward air bases and re-locate its ground forces to peace time location to create a conducive atmosphere
• Indian FM: No escalation of tensions by India IRNA 30 Dec 2008 -- Rejecting Pakistan's contentions, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday that there had been no escalation of tensions by India and that its military movements were routine winter exercises
• India Denies Escalating Tensions with Pakistan VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- India has denied escalating tensions with its neighbor as Pakistan called on New Delhi to resume a dialogue and pull back its troops along the border.
• DRC-UGANDA: Deadly LRA attacks prompt exodus in northeastern DRC IRIN 30 Dec 2008 -- Tens of thousands of civilians have fled their villages in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after 189 people were killed in attacks blamed on the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

News Reports

• GHANA: No president-elect yet IRIN 30 Dec 2008 -- Ghana’s test as a model democracy in coup-wracked West Africa will be stretched over a few more days as election officials investigate fraud allegations and conduct a missed poll in one district.
• Zimbabwe cholera death toll now more than 1,600 - UN reports UN News Centre 30 Dec 2008 -- The death toll from the worst cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe’s history continues to rise and now stands at 1,608, the United Nations said today, adding that the number of cases of the acute intestinal infection caused by contaminated food or water has risen to 30,365 as of 29 December.
• Guinea Coup Leaders Name Civilian Prime Minister VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- The junta that seized power in Guinea last week has named civilian Kabine Komara as the country's new prime minister.
• Ghana Election Results Delayed VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- Ghana's Electoral Commission has delayed the release of final results from Sunday's presidential run-off. Provisional results show the opposition candidate with a slight lead over the ruling-party candidate.
• Thailand's New Prime Minister Calls for National Unity, Economic Recovery VOA 30 Dec 2008 -- In his first national policy speech, Thailand's new prime minister has given priority to economic recovery and called for national unity. But parliament was forced to convene at the Foreign Ministry after anti-government protesters maintained a blockade the legislature.
• UN emergency response fund this year reaches its $450 million target for first time UN News Centre 30 Dec 2008 -- The United Nations emergency relief fund, set up to speed response to those suffering from natural and man-made disasters, has reached its $450 million annual funding target for the first time, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced today.
• DRC: Ebola suspected as 11 die in Kasai Occidental IRIN 30 Dec 2008 -- Eleven people have died in a remote area of central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the presence of the Ebola virus has been confirmed, according to health officials.
• Russian frigate escorted over 50 ships on anti-piracy mission RIA Novosti 30 Dec 2008 -- The Russian Baltic Fleet's frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) protected over 50 commercial ships from pirates off the Somali coast in 2008, a Russian Navy spokesman said on Tuesday.
• Russian Opposition Figure Detained Over Crisis Article RFE/RL 30 Dec 2008 -- Aleksandr Bragin was arrested on December 29 by officers from the Russian Interior Ministry's department for combating terrorism and extremism
• Can Russia's Opposition Rise To The Opportunity Of Crisis? RFE/RL 30 Dec 2008 -- Russia's recession is turning out to be sharper and more problematic than anticipated
• Russia's Medvedev signs law on longer presidential term RIA Novosti 30 Dec 2008 -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed into law constitutional amendments extending presidential and parliamentary terms to six and five years, respectively, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.