Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• PRESS BRIEFING: Adm. Michael Mullen, CJCS, Dec. 19, 2009 MNF-I 19 Dec 2009
• Army secretary visits FOB Warhorse in Diyala Army News 19 Dec 2009 -- Secretary of the Army John Mc Hugh visited Soldiers at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Diyala Province today as part of his eleventh visit to Iraq and first as the Army's top leader
• Soldiers in Kuwait commended by Army Secretary Army News 19 Dec 2009 -- Secretary of the Army John McHugh viewed the drawdown of forces process and other sustainment operations here during a visit with Third Army yesterday.
• Supply Support Activities' experience keeps task force rolling in N. Iraq Army News 19 Dec 2009 -- Supply Support Activities (SSA) provide that critical logistical link between Soldiers and the flow of supplies throughout Iraq.
• First Iraqi bank on American base opens at JBB Army News 19 Dec 2009 -- Contractors and Iraqi entrepreneurs throughout Joint Base Balad, Iraq now have access to the Al Warka Bank, after the opening of a branch Dec. 17 at the Iraqi Free Zone.
• Karzai Presents List of Cabinet Nominees to Afghan Parliament VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- Lawmakers in the lower house of Afghan parliament have begun debating President Karzai's nominees and they must endorse them before the Cabinet becomes official.
• Karzai's New Cabinet Keeps Most Top Ministers Favored By West RFE/RL 19 Dec 2009 -- The Afghan government has formally presented to parliament a list of nominees for the new cabinet of President Hamid Karzai, who is under Western pressure to tackle corruption following his controversial reelection.
• New Afghan cabinet nominees presented to parliament for approval RIA Novosti 19 Dec 2009 -- Afghanistan's first vice-president on Saturday introduced ministerial candidates of newly reelected President Hamid Karzai's government to the country's lower house of parliament for approval.
• British soldier killed in Afghan explosion IRNA 19 Dec 2009 -- A British soldier from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, has been killed in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced Saturday.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Hill, Odierno Discuss Iraq Election, Relations With Iran AFPS 19 Dec 2009 -- Iraq “is not going to be pushed around” by Iran, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill said here today.
• Teamwork Key to Iraqi Security, Mullen Says AFPS 19 Dec 2009 -- The teamwork between Iraqi and American security forces is behind the vast improvements in Iraq, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a news conference here today.
• Strategic Sourcing Office Opens at FISC Norfolk Navy NewsStand 19 Dec 2009 -- Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC) Norfolk opened its Strategic Sourcing Office as a division of the Contracting Department Dec. 16.
• India's defense offsets policy to bring $10 billion in 5 years RIA Novosti 19 Dec 2009 -- The Indian Defense Ministry on Saturday urged the private sector to take advantage of its Offset Policy that will create a 10-billion opportunity in the next five years to manufacturers and service providers, according to the Press Trust of India.

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Nigerian Rebels Claim Attack on Oil Pipeline VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- The rebel group responsible for most of the attacks in Nigeria's oil producing region says it destroyed a major crude pipeline in "a warning" strike early Saturday. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) says 35 of its fighters, armed with assault rifles and heavy machine guns raided an oil facility jointly operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron in Rivers state.

News Reports

• FM says Iran ready to review other side’s proposals IRNA 19 Dec 2009 -- Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran is ready to review the proposals for exchange of fuel from the other side, it is reported on Saturday.
• Tehran says ready to consider nuclear fuel swap RIA Novosti 19 Dec 2009 -- Iran is willing to consider a recent Western proposal that it could obtain nuclear fuel from outside sources rather than produce it itself, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Saturday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
• Iran Admits 3 Killed at Prison Holding Election Protesters VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- Iranian state media say officials admit that prison officers beat three people to death at a facility holding detainees arrested in post-election unrest earlier this year.
• Mottaki: Terrorists have targeted Iraq’s democracy IRNA 19 Dec 2009 -- Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday that the enemies of Iraq recently involved in numerous terrorist crimes have targeted the country’s democracy and freedom.
• Enemies attempted to damage Tehran-Baghadad relations IRNA 19 Dec 2009 -- Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Ramin Mihman-Parast on Saturday strongly ruled out "the unfounded allegation made by foreign media on capture of Iraqi oilfield by Iranian armed forces".
• Iran rules out alleged capture of Iraqi oilfield IRNA 19 Dec 2009 -- Head of Majlis Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy on Saturday strongly ruled out the alleged capture of Iraqi oilfield by Iranian armed forces.
• Iran denies oil well seizure RIA Novosti 19 Dec 2009 -- Iran has rejected reports that its forces have taken over an oil well in Iraq, Press TV said on Saturday.
• Iraq Calls on Iran to Withdraw from Fakka Oil Well Along Common Border VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- Iraq is protesting an Iranian military incursion and occupation of an Iraqi oil well on its side of the border between the two countries.
• Pakistan's Ruling Party Meets on Court Ruling Impact VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- Mr. Zardari and key leaders of his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) met in Islamabad to discuss the impact on his government.
• Ukraine repays about 6% of its foreign debt in 2009 — Tymoshenko RIA Novosti 19 Dec 2009 -- Ukraine repaid $5.75 billion of its over $100 billion foreign debt in 2009, the country's prime minister said.
• Ban sends report on deadly Guinean crackdown to Security Council UN News Centre 19 Dec 2009 -- The Government of Guinea must "break definitively with the violence" that marked its crackdown on unarmed protesters in late September, when at least 150 civilians were killed, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.
• Syrian, Lebanese Leaders Hold Groundbreaking Talks VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus Saturday, in an effort to repair relations between their two countries.
• UN Chief says Climate Change Accord is Real Deal VOA 19 Dec 2009 -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed a controversial climate change accord reached in Copenhagen after all-night talks among world leaders. The agreement has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists and poorer nations.