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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
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Current Operations

Deployments

• 2nd MEB departs USMC 21 Jan 2003 -- Packed and ready to rock, Boaster and approximately 3,500 Marines and sailors attached to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade departed for the Middle East and surrounding region Jan. 11
• Military Cargo Ships Load In Wilmington, N.C. Military Sealift Command 21 Jan 2003-- Two U.S. military cargo ships USNS Regulus and USNS Denebola arrived at the Port of Wilmington today to load U.S. Marine Corps cargo as part the repositioning of U.S. forces in support of the President's war on terrorism.
• Soldiers alerted for deployment Fort Lewis PAO 21 Jan 2003 -- Approximately 1200 Fort Lewis soldiers have received deployment orders to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of operation to support the global war on terrorism and to prepare for future contingencies as may be directed.

US Policy

• White House Daily Briefing White House 21 Jan 2003
• Apparatus of Lies: Saddam's Disinformation and Propaganda (1990-2003) -- "In December 1998, when U.N weapons inspector Dr. Richard Spertzel became exasperated by Iraqi evasions and misrepresentations, he confronted Dr. Rihab Taha, the woman the Iraqis identified as the head of their biological weapons program and asked her directly, "You know that we know you are lying. So why do you do it?" She straightened herself up and replied, "Dr. Spertzel, it's not a lie when you are ordered to lie." Dr. Taha's brief reply is one symbol of a highly developed, well disciplined, and expertly organized program designed to win support for the Iraqi regime through outright deceit. This elaborate program is one of the regime's most potent weapons for advancing its political, military, and diplomatic objectives. In their disinformation and propaganda campaigns, the Iraqis use elaborate ruses and obvious falsehoods, covert actions and false on-the-record statements, and sophisticated preparation and spontaneous exploitation of opportunities. Many of the techniques are not new, but this regime exploits them more aggressively and effectively - and to more harmful effect - than any other regime in power today." [PDF 4 Mb]

• Transcript: Uniting America in Common Purpose: Meeting America's Real Challenges at Home and Abroad -- Speech by Senator Edwards M. Kennedy 21 Jan 2003 -- "As we meet, one hundred fifty thousand members of our armed forces will be in the Gulf by the end of the month, ready to go to war if the President gives the order. I continue to be convinced that this is the wrong war at the wrong time. The threat from Iraq is not imminent, and it will distract America from the two more immediate threats to our security - the clear and present danger of terrorism and the crisis with North Korea"

• U.S. Documents Iraqi Disinformation, Propaganda Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- The U.S. government has compiled a detailed report that discusses the Iraqi regime's use of propaganda and disinformation to gain international support for the regime and to hide development of its weapons of mass destruction programs, a senior administration official said January 21
• Bush Says Iraq is Not Disarming as Required by the U.N. Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- "It's clear to me" that Iraq's Saddam Hussein is not disarming as required by the United Nations, President Bush said January 21
• Senator Kennedy Calls Iraq "Wrong War at the Wrong Time" Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Democrat-Massachusetts) said January 21, in remarks at the National Press Club, that "an assault against Iraq -- especially without broad support -- will not advance the defeat of al Qaeda but undermine it
• Armitage Says World Must Show Resolve on Iraq Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says the United States is working to see that weapons of mass destruction are eliminated from Iraq "short of war."
• Decision to Avert War Lies with Baghdad, Myers Says Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- War against Iraq absolutely can be averted, and the decision to do so lies with the government in Baghdad, General Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Rome January 18
• Bush Administration Presses for Disarmament of Iraq Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- The purpose of having United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq is not to contain Saddam Hussein, but to make certain that he has disarmed his nation of weapons of mass destruction, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer reminded White House reporters January 21.
• ARMITAGE / IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- U-S Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage warned Tuesday there is no sign that Saddam Hussein intends to comply with last November's U-N disarmament resolution and that those who believe he will are engaged in "wishful thinking." Mr. Armitage's policy address came as the Bush administration issued a new document accusing Saddam Hussein of wide-ranging efforts to evade weapons inspections
• PENTAGON / IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered more ships and troops to the Gulf region, continuing the steady build-up of U-S forces for a possible war
• KENNEDY / BUSH / IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- U-S Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, a leading liberal voice in Congress, is taking aim at President Bush's foreign policy -- urging the administration not to rush to war against Iraq
• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- President Bush is rejecting the suggestion that more time be given to weapons inspectors in Iraq, saying Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction and must be disarmed. He spoke one day after France said at the United Nations that there is no current justification for the use of force
• EDITORIAL: THE CASE AGAINST IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- For more than a decade, Saddam Hussein has tried to deceive and defy the United Nations Security Council. The Iraqi regime has continued to seek chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, and long-range ballistic missiles

United Nations

• Tracking the Inspections 21 January 2003RFE/L 21 Jan 2003 -- A team of eight International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors went to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Organization in Al-Tuwaythah, approximately 24 kilometers east of Baghdad, where inspectors asked about nuclear items and took a sample of nuclear waste from the site.
• IRAQ / INSPECTIONS VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- The two top U-N officials in charge of weapons inspections in Iraq say their inspectors need more time and that Baghdad must answer more questions
• UN inspectors in Iraq travel to site of rocket warheads to conduct further analysis UN News Centre 21 Jan 2003 -- As the probe for illegal weapons in Iraq continued today, United Nations inspectors travelled to the site where four rocket warheads were recently found to conduct further analysis
• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNMOVIC/IAEA 21 January 2003

Foreign Reactions

• Jones Says NATO Is Discussing Its Potential Role in Iraq Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- Any decision by NATO regarding potential military operations in Iraq will be determined by the North Atlantic Council, and through discussions now going on it is certain that the opinions of all 19-member nations will be heard, says Marine Corps General James Jones, the new NATO military commander
• RUSSIA / IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- Russia's Foreign Minister says there is more diplomatic work to do before military action against Iraq should be contemplated. The foreign minister also warned against any single country taking the matter into its own hands
• TURKEY/IRAQ CONFERENCE VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- Foreign ministers from leading Middle Eastern nations are to meet Thursday in Istanbul to discuss ways to avoid a U-S-led war against Iraq

News Reports

• Powell Meets with Italy's Frattini on Iraq, Terrorism Washington File 21 Jan 2003 -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said January 21 that Italy would support the United States if a war is necessary to disarm Iraq
• HOPKINSON-IRAQ VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- U-N arms inspectors in Iraq searched more sites for suspected banned weapons, following Baghdad's new pledge to fully cooperate with the inspection process. On Monday, Iraq signed a 10-point plan with visiting chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix and the head of the I-A-E-A, Mohamed ElBaradei, to boost its cooperation and comply with U-N disarmament resolutions. That agreement followed the discovery of more than a dozen empty chemical weapons warheads.items that were not included in a lengthy weapons report to the Security Council
• IRAQ WRAP VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- President Bush says it is clear Iraq is not disarming and is leaving the strong impression that a U-S led attack might be the only option left to ensure it does. This, despite the opinion of some U-N Security Council members, especially France, as well as weapons inspectors themselves, that more time is needed perhaps months more before any decision is made to use force
• ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT PART 2 VOA 21 Jan 2003 -- Protesters rallied by the tens of thousands in the bitter cold over the weekend in a show of dissent against a U-S war with Iraq. They represented a cross-section of America -- a sign, they insist, that the anti-war sentiment is growing. But how much influence do these rallies have on U-S policy? Many analysts say it can be quite a bit. Others doubt that
• KUWAIT/SHOOTINT VOA 21 Jan 2003-- An American civilian has been killed and another has been wounded in an ambush near Kuwait City