Operations
Defense Policy / Programs
Defense Industry
Other Conflicts
News Reports

Current Operations

• US Newspaper Says Quran Burning Followed a Chain of Mishaps VOA 03 Mar 2012 -- A prominent American newspaper says a series of events that led to the burning of Qurans at a NATO base in Afghanistan last month could have been stopped at several points 'along a chain of mishaps, poor judgements and ignored procedures.'
• Marines train first group of ANA sharpshooters USMC News 03 Mar 2012 -- It was January 2012 when insurgents opened up with machine gun fire at an Afghan National Army compound in Musa Qala District. Bullets landed within feet of the headquarters of Command Outpost Griffin, where four Marine advisors observed as the enemy closed within 50 meters (164 ft.) of the compound before ANA soldiers repelled the assault.
• National Guard Troops Respond to Midwestern, Southern Tornadoes AFPS 03 Mar 2012 -- More than 500 National Guard members are supporting civilian authorities in five states today after the second night this week of devastating tornadoes in the Midwest and the South.

Defense Policy / Programs

Defense Industry

Other Conflicts

• Ban underlines need for concerted international effort to end bloodshed in Syria UN News Centre 02 Mar 2012 -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today underlined the need for concerted action to end the crisis in Syria, lamenting that the international community has thus far failed in its responsibility to stop the bloodshed in the country, where he said the Government was waging an 'atrocious assault' against its own people.
• UN's Ban 'Alarmed' At Fresh Syria Atrocity Reports RFE/RL 03 Mar 2012 -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed alarm at reports coming from the Syrian flash-point city of Homs that suggest Syrian government forces are arbitrarily executing, imprisoning, and torturing people.
• Red Cross Denied Access to Besieged Homs RIA Novosti 03 Mar 2012 -- Syrian pro-government forces that continue shelling the opposition stronghold of Homs, denied access to the besieged city on Saturday for a humanitarian convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that was seeking entry to the city to help the injured, the world's media reported.
• U.S. Says Russia 'Fuels Fire' by Selling Arms to Syria RIA Novosti 03 Mar 2012 -- Russia is playing a 'dangerous role' by supplying arms to Syria amid the ongoing violent clashes in the country between the authorities and protesters, Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of State said.
• Syrian Forces Shell Homs, Block Aid to Rebel Stronghold VOA 03 Mar 2012 -- Syrian government forces shelled at least four neighborhoods of Homs Saturday, as the International Red Cross appealed to Syrian authorities to allow aid workers to enter embattled city's devastated Bab Amr district.
• Saakashvili Wants Return of Abkhazia, S.Ossetia RIA Novosti 03 Mar 2012 -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said that Russian-Georgian diplomatic relations would be fully restored if Russia withdrew troops from Abkhazia and South Ossetia and annulled its recognition of independence of the breakaway republics, Novosti-Georgia news agency reported on Saturday.
• Taiwan repeats Tiaoyutai claim following naming by Japan, China CNA 03 Mar 2012 -- Taiwan reiterated Saturday its sovereignty over the disputed Tiaoyutai Islands following the naming of several uninhabited islets in the East China Sea chain by Japan and China.
• Possibility for cross-strait conflicts lower: U.S. commander CNA 03 Mar 2012 -- Adm. Robert F. Willard, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said on Friday that the possibility of conflicts erupting between Taiwan and China has dropped and that this trend will likely continue, especially after President Ma Ying-jeou was recently reelected.

News Reports

• Consultations on date, venue of talks with P5+1 continue, says Iran ISNA 03 Mar 2012 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said talks on date and venue of negotiations with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany still continue.
• Early Iran Returns Show President's Conservative Foes Ahead RFE/RL 03 Mar 2012 -- Early returns from Iran's parliamentary election showed conservative opponents of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad out in front.
• Ahmadinejad Rivals Lead in Parliamentary Vote VOA 03 Mar 2012 -- Partial results Saturday from Iran's parliamentary elections show that conservative rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appear on course to gain firm control of the 290-seat parliament, after winning in several constituencies across the country.
• Attack Targets Former Pakistani Interior Minister RFE/RL 03 Mar 2012 -- A suicide bomber has attacked the convoy of former Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, killing one of his guards and wounding three other people.
• U.S. mulling timetable on senior official's Taiwan visit CNA 03 Mar 2012 -- The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) said Friday that it is studying possible options on when Under Secretary Francisco Sanchez will visit Taiwan in the future.