• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• COALITION FORCES TARGET IRAQI MOBILE SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILE SYSTEM 25 Feb 2003 -- In response to Iraqi threats to Coalition forces monitoring compliance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons today to target a mobile surface-to-surface missile system. The missile system was located near Al Basrah, approximately 245 miles southeast of Baghdad. The strike occurred at approximately 9:45 a.m., EST.
• COALITION FORCES TARGET IRAQI MOBILE SURFACE-TO-AIR-MISSILE SYSTEM 25 Feb 2003 -- In response to Iraqi threats to Coalition aircraft monitoring compliance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons today to target a mobile surface-to-air missile system. The missile system was located near Al Basrah, approximately 245 miles southeast of Baghdad. The strike occurred at approximately 6:55 a.m., EST.
• ONW Coalition Forces Target Iraqi Surface-to-Surface Missile System 25 Feb 2003 -- In response to Iraqi threats to coalition forces monitoring Iraqi compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions, Operation Northern Watch aircraft used precision-guided weapons to target three surface-to-surface missile systems today from 5 to 6:30 p.m. EST.
• PENTAGON /IRAQ VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- Aircraft of the U-S-British coalition patrolling over northern and southern Iraq have struck at several mobile missile sites --- including one described as a threat to troops massed in Kuwait.
• IRAQ / PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- Although President Bush has not made the final decision that the United States will lead a military coalition to disarm Iraq, psychological warfare by the U-S military is already well underway. The campaign is aimed at both Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
• Acting SECNAV Tells Sailors, Marines on Tarawa to Stay Prepared Navy NewStand 25 Feb 2003 -- Several months after Navy Secretary Gordon R. England told the crew of USS Tarawa (LHA 1) to be prepared, the new acting Navy secretary delivered a follow-up message to the ship during a brief speech in the North Arabian Gulf Feb. 21.
• Black Hawk Crash Kills 4 Soldiers Training in Kuwait AFPS 25 Feb 2003 -- A Black Hawk helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert killed four American soldiers early this morning.

Deployments

• Tent cities spring up across Kuwait Army News 25 Feb 2003 -- Six tent cities in Kuwait now have space for 15,500 soldiers and officials said more requests arrive daily.
• Army limits re-up options Army News 25 Feb 2003 -- Re-enlistment options are being limited to prevent the Army from exceeding end-strength numbers authorized by Congress, said a personnel official.
• Black Knights fire it up before deployment USMC News 25 Feb 2003 -- Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-264 (Reinforced), the "Black Knights," conducted its first squadron-wide integrated live-fire training evolution of the pre-deployment training program Feb. 10-14 at several landing zones aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• 15th MEU (S0C) Marines knock off rust, sharpen combat skills USMC News 25 Feb 2003 -- Marines from E Company, Battalion Landing Team 2/1, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) dusted the sand from their weapons and conducted a live fire training exercise at Udari Range to refresh their war-fighting skills Feb. 17 and 18.
• Marines battle bitter cold 2/3 joins forces with JGSDF for Forest Light USMC News 25 Feb 2003 -- Soldiers of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's 25th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division, Northern Army, lined the entryway of Camp Engaru here and waited in the bitter cold, to welcome their counterparts to Forest Light 03-2 recently.

US Policy

• White House Daily Briefing White House 25 Feb 2003
• Transcript: Briefing on Humanitarian Relief Planning for Iraq 25 Feb 2003 -- "As you know, the president has not made a decision on the use of military force with respect to Iraq, but military planning continues, and a very important part of that military planning is preparing to deliver humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people while also conducting military operations. The department has been working with other agencies for some months now on a relief strategy. Our goal would be to minimize the displacement of Iraqi people, limit any damage to infrastructure, and avoid the disruption of services to the greatest extent possible."
• U.S., U.K., Spain Propose Security Council Resolution on Iraq AFPS 25 Feb 2003 -- The United States and close allies Britain and Spain proposed a follow-up resolution on Iraq at the U.N. Security Council meeting in New York Feb. 24. France and Germany offered a weaker counterproposal.
• BUSH IRAQ VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- President Bush says the only way to avoid war with Iraq is for Saddam Hussein to totally disarm.
• RICE / IRAQ VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- The White House says a French plan to extend U-N weapons inspections in Iraq would only help Saddam Hussein avoid real disarmament.
• Armitage Meets with German Bundestag Minority Leader Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- During a February 24 meeting at the State Department between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Angela Merkel, chair of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and minority leader of Germany's Bundestag, the discussion focused on Iraq
• CONDOLEEZZA RICE VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- The Security Council is facing some tough choices on Iraq. There are some states who believe President Bush is more interested in regime change than disarmament. What do you say to those states? Why should they support the U.S. resolution, which says that Saddam has missed his final opportunity, over the French memorandum, which would intensify those inspections?
• U-S / IRAQ / FOOD VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- The Bush administration is preparing to try to avert a humanitarian crisis in the event of U-S-led military action against Iraq.
• EDITORIAL: THE U.S. AND U-N RESOLUTION 1441 VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- In November, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed resolution fourteen-forty-one requiring Iraq to re-admit U-N weapons inspectors. The council passed that resolution with the knowledge that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
• Preventing an Attack is Hard; Convincing World to Take Preventive Action Harder, Rumsfeld Says AFPS 25 Feb 2003 -- Preventing an attack is always difficult, but convincing the world to take preventive action is even more difficult, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told guests today at a Hoover Institution luncheon here.
• Working to Prevent Humanitarian Disaster in Iraq AFPS 25 Feb 2003 -- While there has been no decision to go to war with Saddam Hussein, the U.S. military has been working to avert a humanitarian crisis in the country should conflict become inevitable.
• Bush: Saddam Hussein Has Had Success 'Gaming the System' AFPS 25 Feb 2003 -- President Bush suspects Iraq's Saddam Hussein "will try to fool the world one more time," he said at the White House today.
• U.S. Outlines Humanitarian Assistance Plans for Iraq Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- The Bush administration, at a White House briefing February 24, outlined plans for humanitarian assistance -- food, medicine and supplies -- to the people of Iraq during and after a potential military conflict.
• Negroponte Calls Al Samoud 2 Missile Only Part of Iraq Problem Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- Iraq would have to have "a major, drastic, dramatic change in attitude" toward the disarmament process, not just destroy the Al Samoud 2 missiles, in order to stop the United States and its allies from proceeding with the new resolution in the Security Council, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte said February 24.
• Natsios: U.S. Prepared to Deliver Humanitarian Relief to Iraq in Event of War Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Andrew Natsios and his senior aides briefed the media in Washington February 25 on how the U.S. government is planning to provide humanitarian assistance to Iraqis in the event of war with Iraq.
• Bush Reiterates Call For Full Disarmament by Iraq Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- President Bush, at a short meeting with reporters at the White House February 25, repeated his call for Iraq's Saddam Hussein to fully disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.
• "War for Peace? It Worked in My Country," by José Ramos-Horta Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- The following op-ed article by José Ramos-Horta, East Timor's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, was published in the February 25 New York Times.

United Nations

• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNMOVIC/IAEA 25 Feb 2003
• Tracking Inspections in Iraq RFE/L 25 Feb 2003
• UNMOVIC Preparing New Report on Iraq Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- The senior advisors to U.N. weapons inspectors February 25 ended two days of private meetings to prepare a report to the Security Council on 30 specific unresolved disarmament issues in Iraq.
• U-N / IRAQ / BLIX VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- Chief U-N weapons inspector Hans Blix says Iraq has shown new signs of cooperation "on substance," as he put it, by providing documents about the disposal of some weapons banned in 1991.
• New Iraqi disarmament letters have 'some positive elements' - Blix UN News Centre 25 Feb 2003 -- United Nations disarmament official Hans Blix said today he has received new letters from Iraq containing some "positive elements" for his search for evidence of banned weapons of mass destruction, but cautioned that the correspondence needs to be explored further.

Foreign Reactions

• Spain's Envoy Says Security Council Must Put More Pressure on Iraq Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- Spain is co-sponsoring a new resolution on Iraq because it "believes that the origin of this problem is Saddam Hussein and nobody else" and international pressure may finally convince him to disarm, Spain's chief envoy to the United Nations said February 25.
• TURKEY / U-S TROOPS VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- Turkey's government has presented a bill to the parliament seeking authorization for the basing of some 62-thousand U-S troops in Turkey for a possible war against Iraq.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the threat of force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has led to concessions and such pressure must be maintained. He told the House of Commons on Tuesday it would be "absurd" to give more time to the Iraqi leader, as proposed in the Franco-German plan.
• BLAIR / POLITICS / IRAQ VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing a revolt from within his ruling Labor Party over the issue of war against Iraq. Analysts say Mr. Blair's staunch support for the United States has put his political future in jeopardy.
• U-S / RUSSIA / IRAQ VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- A senior U-S official visiting Moscow says the United States hopes to gain Russian support for a new U-N resolution on Iraq, but has had no success.
• N-A-M WRAP VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- Leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement have ended a two-day meeting in Malaysia, after opposing an attack on Iraq without backing by the United Nations. The participants also expressed concern over rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.
• JORDAN / IRAQ BORDER VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- With a possible war against Iraq looming, people in the region are increasingly worried about the effects of such a conflict.

News Reports

• IRAQ / MISSILES VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has told an American interviewer he wants to debate President Bush, and he may not destroy Iraq's al-Samoud 2 (two) missiles as demanded by U-N inspectors. Political analysts in the region think the Iraqi president would be making a mistake if he fails to destroy the missiles, and they describe his call for a public debate as an attempt to wage war by what they call other means.
• IRAQ WRAP VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- The chief United Nations weapons inspector for Iraq says Baghdad has provided new documents, which he calls a new sign of substantive Iraqi cooperation with the disarmament process. But that finding was greeted with skepticism from President Bush just a day after the United States and Britain declared Iraq was not disarming and has already missed its final chance to do so peacefully.
• Fact Sheet Details Timeline of U.N.-Iraq-Coalition Activity 1991-2002 Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- The following fact sheet records United Nations, Iraqi, and coalition-related events from March 2, 1991-November 18, 2002.
• "Why Saddam Will Never Disarm," by William Shawcross Washington File 25 Feb 2003 -- William Shawcross says the Iraqi leader is prepared to go to any lengths to hold on to his deadly weapons
• ROSEMARY HOLLIS VOA 25 Feb 2003 -- The United States and Britain have embarked on a final diplomatic push this week to win enough votes to pass a Security Council resolution on the use of force against Iraq for not disarming. (The resolution was introduced Monday afternoon at a closed-door U-N session). France has put itself on a collision course with Washington over the resolution, putting forth its own proposal, or "memorandum," along with Germany and Russia to boost the arms inspection program.