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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• COALITION FORCES DROP LEAFLETS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ 30 Jan 2003 -- Coalition aircraft dropped 480,000 informational leaflets over southern Iraq today at approximately 11:45 a.m. EST. The leaflets were dropped over populated areas and cable repeater sites.

Deployments

• Air Force extends current, upcoming deployments AFPN 30 Jan 2003 -- Currently and soon-to-be deployed airmen will remain deployed longer than the previously targeted three-month rotation, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper announced Jan. 28 in a message to all airmen. The change was made to meet the needs of combatant commanders
• CNO Visits Constellation NNS 30 Jan 2003 -- The Sailors of USS Constellation (CV 64), known as 'Connie,' recently welcomed Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark for an underway visit.
• Stennis Gears up for Sea Trials NNS 30 Jan 2003 -- For the first time since USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) returned home from its seven-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the crew is prepared to sail again
• USS Key West Deploys NNS 31 Jan 2003 -- USS Key West (SSN 722) left for a six-month deployment Jan. 24. The Los Angeles-class attack submarine and its crew of 130 men will be conducting missions in support of the global war on terrorism or possible contingencies elsewhere in the world.
• Albany Marine Reserves activated USMC 31 Jan 2003 -- More than 100 Albany Marine Reserves were called up this week in support of Operation Enduring Freedom
• New England's Own Activated USMC 31 Jan 2003 -- More than 740 reserve Marines of 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Marine Division, said good-bye to their loved ones before leaving here Jan 23.

US Policy

• White House Daily Briefing White House 30 Jan 2003
• DeLay Says Confronting Saddam Hussein Part of War on Terrorism Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- For the second most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives, the question about Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein isn't whether he has weapons of terror, but how he will use them
• Negroponte Says Iraq Has Failed to Meet U.N. Resolution Conditions Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told a Senate committee January 30 that Iraq has failed to provide a full and accurate declaration on all aspects of its weapons of mass destruction programs, and has failed to provide full cooperation to U.N. weapons inspection teams
• U.S. Demands that Iraq Comply Fully and Immediately with U.N. Resolutions Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- The State Department's Director of Policy Planning, Richard Haass, said the United States and a number of other governments are preparing to issue a demand that Iraq comply immediately and in full with U.N. resolutions requiring the elimination of its weapons of mass destruction, or else face military force to bring about compliance
• Bush: Diplomatic Efforts on Iraq Will Continue, but Not Indefinitely Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem of Iraq's failure to get rid of its weapons of mass destruction will not continue indefinitely, President Bush noted January 30 following a morning meeting in the Oval Office with Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
• Armitage Says Iraqi Cooperation on Weapons Inspections Lacking Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Iraqi cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors has been neither active, immediate nor unconditional, says Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
• Cheney Calls Confronting Iraq "Crucial" To War Against Terror Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Vice President Dick Cheney praised the ongoing war against al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and said the Bush Administration's confrontation of Iraq was "crucial" to winning the wider war against terrorism
• Kennedy Says Bush Should Come Back to Congress for Iraq War Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Senator Ted Kennedy (Democrat of Massachusetts) introduced a resolution into the Senate January 29 calling on President Bush to fully support the efforts of the United Nations weapons inspectors, and obtaining new congressional authorization to use force to disarm the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
• Armitage Says Iraq Has Failed to Comply with U.N. Resolutions Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Based on two recent reports from U.N. weapons inspectors, Iraq is in material breach of U.N. resolutions requiring disarmament of an array of chemical and biological weapons and outlawed long-range ballistic missiles, says U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage
• Biden Warns Bush Administration of Consequences of War With Iraq Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) says President Bush needs to explain to the American people the possible consequences of a war with Iraq
• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- President Bush says the final diplomatic push to disarm Iraq peacefully will last weeks and not months. Mr. Bush also says he would welcome exile for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
• RUMSFELD / IRAQ VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- With concerns mounting worldwide over the possibility of a new war with Iraq, the Bush administration has been busily setting the stage for military action, not only by pouring troops into the Gulf, but also by trying to publicly explain the need for U-S pre-emptive action
• IRAQ / CONGRESS / WAR POWERS VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- The effort by a key Senate Democrat to compel President Bush to return to Congress for another vote on possible military action in Iraq have re-focused attention on the power of the legislative branch of government to declare war.
• EDITORIAL: SADDAM EXPLOITS SUFFERING VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is squandering massive resources on prohibited weapons programs, a brutal state security force designed to keep him in power, and extravagant luxuries for himself and a close circle of cronies. At the same time, Saddam Hussein cynically uses the hardship he has brought on the Iraqi people for his own propaganda purposes
• CONGRESS - IRAQ VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- U-S lawmakers Thursday urged Bush administration officials to allow more time for U-N weapons inspections in Iraq before launching a possible war against that country
• U-S/IRAQ/POL VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- President Bush's re-election prospects in 2004 will likely hinge on the two issues he focused on in his State of the Union address this week -- Iraq and the sluggish U-S economy
• HUNGARY/IRAQI EXILES VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- The first group of volunteers from Iraqi opposition to President Saddam Hussein have arrived in Hungary Wednesday for training to support a possible U-S led war in Iraq. Stefan Bos reports that the Iraqis will be stationed at the Taszar air base, 200 kilometers southwest of Budapest

United Nations

• Tracking the Inspections 30 January 2003 RFE/L 30 Jan 2003 -- Amr al-Sa'di, Iraqi presidential adviser and head of the Iraqi delegation to the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), has invited UNMOVIC chief Hans Blix, and Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Muhammad al-Baradei to visit Iraq before 10 February to discuss "a series of issues related to consolidating cooperation and transparency [between Iraq and] UNMOVIC and the IAEA," according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry's 30 January daily briefing on inspection activities.
• Security Council looking forward to Powell's briefing next week, Annan says UN News Centre 30 Jan 2003 -- With the Security Council planning to hold a meeting next week to discuss the situation in Iraq, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said anticipation was high for the visit of United States Secretary of State Colin Powell
• UN attempts to interview Iraqis, inspections continue UN News Centre 30 Jan 2003 -- United Nations officials attempted to interview two Iraqis today but the sessions fell through after the individuals insisted on having a witness present, according to a UN spokesman in Baghdad
• VP Cheney: Hussein Has 'Absolutely No Intention' of Meeting World's Demands AFPS 30 Jan 2003 -- Saddam Hussein has the means and the will to use chemical and biological weapons. He could share them with global terrorists
• U-N / IRAQ / BLIX VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- The U-N's chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says he is studying an invitation by Iraq for top inspectors to return to Baghdad for talks. Iraq is offering to talk before the Security Council hears again from U-N weapons inspectors
• IRAQ / ELBARADEI VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- The chief of U-N nuclear weapons inspectors says it could take four or five more months to determine if Iraq possesses a nuclear weapons capability. Mohammed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency is appealing to Iraq to more actively cooperate with his inspection team
• W-F-P / IRAQ VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- United Nations relief agencies say they are positioning supplies in countries neighboring Iraq, so they will be ready in case of a war
• IRAQ / ELBARADEI VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- The chief of U-N nuclear weapons inspections in Iraq says he needs four or five more months to complete his work there. Mohammed ElBaradai of the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iraq needs to be more forthcoming with inspectors if war is to be avoided
• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNMOVIC/IAEA 30 January 2003

Foreign Reactions

• Europe and America must stand united By Prime Ministers Jose María Aznar, José Manuel Durão Barroso, Silvio Berlusconi, Tony Blair, Vaclav Havel, Peter Medgyessy, Leszek Miller and Anders Fogh Rasmussen. 30 Jan 2003 -- "We Europeans have since reiterated our backing for Resolution 1441, our wish to pursue the UN route and our support for the Security Council, at the Prague NATO Summit and the Copenhagen European Council. (...) We cannot allow a dictator to systematically violate those Resolutions. If they are not complied with, the Security Council will lose its credibility and world peace will suffer as a result"
• Powell Meets With Canadian Foreign Minister Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Canadian Foreign Minister William Graham on January 30 to discuss a range of both bilateral issues and multilateral issues, including the Secretary's presentation to the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council next week on Iraq
• Bush, Italy's Berlusconi Warn Saddam to Disarm Washington File 30 Jan 2003 -- President Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued blunt warnings to Saddam Hussein January 30 during a photo opportunity before their meetings at the White House
• European Leaders Express Support for U.S. Position on Iraq AFPS 30 Jan 2003 -- Eight European leaders strongly supported the United States in its quest to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction in letters appearing today in The Wall Street Journal and The Times of London
• Bush, Powell Meet With Italian, Canadian Allies; Discuss Iraq AFPS 30 Jan 2003 -- President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell each met with high-level officials from countries that support America's efforts in the war on terrorism.
• POWELL/CANADA VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell has discussed Iraq with Canadian Foreign Minister William Graham, who said he hoped any military action to disarm Saddam Hussein will be within the U-N framework
• IRAQ / MANDELA VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela has severely criticized the leaders of the United States and Britain for their policy toward Iraq
• BLAIR-SPAIN VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- On his way to meet with U-S President George W. Bush at Camp David this weekend to discuss the Iraq crisis, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, stopped in Madrid to meet with his Spanish counterpart, José María Aznar. Both leaders agreed that the any force used to disarm Iraq should be taken with the consent of the U.N
• EUROPE / IRAQ VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- Eight European leaders have issued a declaration giving strong backing to President Bush's efforts for disarmament in Iraq. The letter is also being viewed as a snub to France and Germany, which are critical of U-S policy on Iraq

News Reports

• COALITION OF THE WILLING VOA 30 Jan 2003 -- Chief U-N Weapons inspector, Hans Blix, has reported on whether Iraq is living up to its obligations under U-N resolution 1441. The resolution requires the regime of Saddam Hussein to cooperate fully and actively with weapons inspectors to ensure that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction. But according to Mr. Blix, that cooperation has not been forthcoming. He told the United Nations Security Council that "Iraq appears not have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it." U-S officials argue that if Iraq chooses not to disarm, inspectors are of little use. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that without full Iraqi cooperation, the U-N inspectors are searching in the dark.