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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

Deployments

• Saipan Offloads Marines into Kuwait Navy NewStand 20 Feb 2003 -- Marines and Sailors launched from USS Saipan (LHA 2) by sea and air recently as they began the offload of forces from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Battalion (MEB) and supporting units into Kuwait.
• USS Bataan Transits the Suez Canal Navy NewStand 20 Feb 2003 -- If you think driving in heavy traffic on the highway is stressful, how about navigating a 42,000-ton ship down a canal that's no bigger than a six-lane highway?
• Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311 to deploy overseas USCG 20 Feb 2003 -- Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311 departs March Air Reserve Base
• 22nd MEU Command Element's Focus Shifts to Training USMC News 20 Feb 2003 -- The build-up of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf for use in a possible war against Iraq caused an interruption in the scheduled pre-deployment training of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit that the unit intends to put to good use.
• 22nd MEU Embarkers Support 4th FSSG's Deployment USMC News 20 Feb 2003 -- On the top deck of a transport ship overlooking a field of stacked green metal cargo containers in a bustling East Coast sea port, two Marines quickly yet thoroughly inspect similar containers awaiting transport to points unknown.

US Policy

• Wolfowitz Says U.S. Still Working on Agreement with Turkey Washington File 20 Feb 2003 -- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said February 19 that, "if it becomes necessary to use force" to disarm Iraq, "we will achieve our objective with or without Turkish cooperation. But with Turkish cooperation it can be much quicker, much less painful for everybody including innocent civilians in Iraq, including Turkey and the Turkish economy, including the United States."
• Powell Says U.S. Firm on Level of Assistance to Turkey Washington File 20 Feb 2003 -- The United States remains firm about the level and kind of assistance available for Turkey in the context of a possible war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in response to a journalist's question February 20, but added, "There may be some other creative things we can do."
• Trusting Saddam Hussein Not an Option, Bush Says Washington File 20 Feb 2003 -- If Saddam Hussein does not disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction as required by the United Nations, the United States with other willing nations will act to "defend the peace against an aggressive tyrant," President Bush said February 20.
• Lieberman Submits Resolution on Reconstruction of Iraq Washington File 20 Feb 2003 -- Senator Joseph Lieberman (Democrat of Connecticut) has introduced a resolution into the Senate on how the United States should proceed to reconstruct Iraq, if the U.S. resorts to military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
• BUSH/IRAQ VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- President Bush is continuing to press the international community to take a tough stand at the United Nations to disarm Saddam Hussein.During a visit to the Atlanta, Georgia, area, Mr. Bush said the world cannot trust the Iraqi leader to comply with disarmament demands.
• Military Action Last Option Against Iraq, Bush Says AFPS 20 Feb 2003 -- Military action against Iraq is America's last option, President Bush told an audience today in Kennesaw, Ga.
• EDITORIAL: BUSH ON LIBERATION, NOT CONQUEST VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- The al-Qaida attacks of September 11th, 2001, showed what terrorists could do with four airplanes as weapons. And as President George W. Bush made clear, "We're not going to wait and see what they can do with even deadlier weapons."
• POWELL/IRAQ VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, citing continued Iraqi resistance to U-N weapons inspections, says the United States is working with other countries on a new Security Council resolution understood to declare Iraq in "material breach" of its disarmament obligations.
• NATO Decision Shows How Democratic Nations Work Together AFPS 20 Feb 2003 -- NATO's decision to protect Turkey from potential attack by Iraq is an example of how alliance members can work together to resolve tough issues, Secretary of State Colin Powell said today.

United Nations

• UN monitors continue inspections at Al Samoud 2 missile sites in Iraq UN News Centre 20 Feb 2003 -- Continuing the search for evidence of banned weapons in Iraq, teams from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) today performed inspections at five separate sites, all related to the country's Al Samoud 2 missile programme.
• IRAQ / INSPECTIONS VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Weapons inspectors in Iraq are concentrating their efforts on a missile system that may be in violation of U-N restrictions.
• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNMOVIC/IAEA 20 February 2003
• Tracking Inspections in Iraq RFE/L 20 Feb 2003

Foreign Reactions

• NATO / ROBERTSON VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- The head of NATO says the internal dispute over defending Turkey in case of war in Iraq is not as bad as it seems, and urged people on both sides of the Atlantic to calm down.
• TURKEY/U-S/IRAQ VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Turkey's Parliament announced Thursday that it would not be voting this week on a motion that would enable deployment of thousands of U-S troops in Turkey. The announcement comes amid mounting pressure from Washington for Turkey to commit itself to a possible US-led war against Iraq.
• POWELL-TURKEY AID VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell is awaiting an answer from Turkey by the end of Thursday, as to whether the Ankara government will allow U-S troops on its soil for any conflict with Iraq. The two sides have been at odds over the terms of a multi-billion dollar U-S aid package to compensate Turkey for war-related economic damage.
• TURKISH U-S COOPERATION VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- A disagreement between long time U-S ally Turkey, a member of NATO, over the extent of cooperation in a potential war with Iraq is getting more and more attention in the U-S press.
• IRAQ/BRITAIN/ARCHBISHOPS VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Britain's two most senior churchmen -- the heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches -- are questioning the moral case for war against Iraq. They say U-N weapons inspectors should be given more time to carry out their work.
• NON-ALIGNED SUMMIT VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Against a backdrop of war looming in the Middle East, senior officials and ministers from 114 nations grouped under the Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM, are in Malaysia ahead of a two-day summit. While Iraq is expected to dominate discussions, North Korea Thursday took center-stage with a controversial resolution.
• KUWAIT / WAR PREPARATIONS VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Escalating war tensions in the Gulf have prompted Kuwait to take unprecedented measures to defend itself in case of another attack by its neighbor, Iraq. The country is better prepared to face Saddam Hussein this time, than in 1991.
• RUSSIA/IRAQ VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- Russia is objecting to what Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says is outside pressure on U-N weapons inspectors to produce reports that could be used as a pretext for war against Iraq.

News Reports

• 10 Reasons Environmentalists Oppose an Attack on Iraq 20 Feb 2003 -- Environmentalists Against the War had a press conference in San Francisco on February 20, 2003, and released the following statement
• AFRICA / URANIUM VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- U-S and U-N officials say the African country of Niger supplied Iraq with a key ingredient for its nuclear program two decades ago and recently agreed secretly to resume those shipments.
• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 6, Number 7 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 20 February 2003 -- IRAQI PRESIDENT SAYS IRAQ DOES NOT WANT WAR / IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER TO HEAD DELEGATION TO NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT SUMMIT... / ...AS ARAB LEAGUE DELEGATE COMMENDS REPORT TO UN / IRAQI OPPOSITION NOTES SLIGHT DELAY OF IRBIL MEETING / IRAQI OPPOSITION WORKING GROUPS PRESS FORWARD / IRAQI ENGINEER REPORTEDLY DEFECTS, GIVES NEW LEADS / KURDS SPRING INTO ACTION / PUK LEADER SAYS IRAQI REGIME OFFERED U.S. OIL TO STAY IN POWER / IRAQ ACCUSED OF HIDING 'THOUSANDS OF TONS' OF WEAPONS / U.S. CALLING TURKEY'S BLUFF? / TURKEY MIGHT SEND TROOPS TO NORTHERN IRAQ / AN ARAB SUMMIT: WILL THERE BE ONE? / SAUDI ARABIA WARNS U.S. AGAINST UNILATERAL STRIKE ON IRAQ / UNMOVIC HEAD BRIEFS UN SECURITY COUNCIL / IAEA CHIEF AGREES INSPECTIONS SHOULD CONTINUE, IRAQ NEEDS TO COOPERATE MORE / NATO APPROVES DEFENSIVE DEPLOYMENT TO TURKEY / U-2 OVERFLIGHTS OF IRAQ BEGIN / IRAQI LEADER DISCUSSES U-2 CONTROVERSY / IRAQI OFFICIALS DENY MISSILES IN VIOLATION / RUSSIA, SAYS NO NEW RESOLUTION NEEDED / EU ISSUES JOINT DECLARATION ON IRAQ / U.S. WORKING ON NEW RESOLUTION / PHILIPPINES EXPELS IRAQI DIPLOMAT WITH ALLEGED LINKS TO ABU SAYYAF / END NOTE: EYEWITNESS: THE AL-AMIRIYAH SHELTER BOMBING
• IRAQ / CHILD SOLDIERS VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- As the prospect of an armed conflict with Iraq looms, U-S analysts say the government of Saddam Hussein is forcing thousands of children to prepare for war and, in some cases, join the military. The analysts say this presents the potential for a humanitarian nightmare, as professional soldiers from the United States and other countries could find themselves fighting Iraqi children who have been armed and trained to kill.
• Senator Says U.S. Cannot Live in World Without Allies Washington File 20 Feb 2003 -- Making allusions to Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech of 1946, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel said February 20 that the United States today "stands at a pinnacle of power" and again bears a heavy burden for securing a better world, but cannot do so alone.
• IRAQ / CHILD SOLDIERS VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- As the prospect of an armed conflict with Iraq looms, U-S analysts say the government of Saddam Hussein is forcing thousands of children to prepare for war and, in some cases, join the military. The analysts say this presents the potential for a humanitarian nightmare, as professional soldiers from the United States and other countries could find themselves fighting Iraqi children who have been armed and trained to kill.
• Free Iraqis Discuss Future Role of Media Washington File 20 Feb 2003 -- Following is a notice to the press from the State Department in Washington February 20 about discussions on the future role of the media in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein
• IRAQ / WRAP VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- The United States expects a new U-N resolution will be introduced at the Security Council next week declaring Iraq in material breach of demands that it disarm. It could clear the way for military action against Baghdad if it does not quickly change course and fully cooperate with U-N weapons inspectors. The resolution is not expected to set a deadline but will signal that the diplomatic effort to get Iraq to disclose its suspected weapons of mass destruction has all but come to an end.
• U-S/IRAQ/KURDS VOA 20 Feb 2003 -- The United States has imposed financial sanctions against an Iraqi Kurdish rebel group, Ansar al-Islam, said to have close ties with the al-Qaida terrorist network. U-S officials are also welcoming a decision by Norway to expel the group's leader, who faces criminal charges in Jordan.