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News Reports

Current Operations

• PENTAGON /RUMSFELD VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The U-S Air Force has tested a massive new conventional bomb that could be used with devastating effect in any war with Iraq. Word of the test came as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed private communications with the Iraqi military on how to escape attack.
• Northern Watch Flies Top Cover for U.S. Envoy in Northern Iraq AFPS 11 Mar 2003 -- What started out as a request for 48 hours of combat air patrols turned into six days of practically nonstop flying as Operation Northern Watch kept skies clear while a U.S. envoy met with Iraqi opposition leaders in northern Iraq.
• ONW provides top cover for U.S. Envoy in Northern Iraq USAFENS 10 Mar 2003 -- What started out as a request for 48 hours of combat air patrols turned into six days of practically non-stop flying as Operation Northern Watch flew top-cover for a U.S. envoy meeting Iraqi opposition leaders in northern Iraq, Feb. 24 to March 2.

Deployments

• Rhein-Main AB handling record-setting arrivals, departures USAFENS 11 Mar 2003 -- As the shortest month, February is not normally thought of as a record-setting month, but the 726th Air Mobility Squadron here has made it one, shattering several of its own records in the process.
• 15th MEU (SOC) Marines bring steel beach to the field USMC News 11 Mar 2003 -- Withstanding a severe sand storm that toppled down several tents March 8th, Marines and Sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) reverted back to an American norm by having an outdoor barbeque supported by the Sailors and Marines of the USS Tarawa (LHA-1) on a warm and sunny day March 10.
• U-S MILITARY / QATAR VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Although efforts at the United Nations are intensifying to resolve the confrontation over Iraq, the U-S led military build-up in the Gulf region continues amidst a growing feeling that war is imminent.

US Policy

• Transcript: Backgrounder on Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Post-War 11 Mar 2003 -- "This is going to be a background briefing on the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance."

• White House Daily Briefing White House 11 Mar 2003
• DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers 11 Mar 2003 -- "We hope to see the United Nations act. The credibility of the U.N. is important to the world. But if the Security Council fails this test of resolve, a coalition will be ready to act nonetheless. The question before the United Nations is clear: Is Saddam Hussein taking this final opportunity that was offered by Resolution 1441 to disarm or not? And the answer to the question, it strikes me, is increasingly obvious. He makes a show of destroying a handful of missiles; missiles which he claimed in his declaration did not violate U.N. restrictions, but now admits that they do violate U.N. restrictions. Yet even as he destroys those missiles, he's ordered the continued production of the very same types of missiles."
• 15th MEU (SOC) Marines bring steel beach to the field USMC News 11 Mar 2003 -- Withstanding a severe sand storm that toppled down several tents March 8th, Marines and Sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) reverted back to an American norm by having an outdoor barbeque supported by the Sailors and Marines of the USS Tarawa (LHA-1) on a warm and sunny day March 10.
• PENTAGON / BRITAIN VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he expects Britain to help in the event of a war with Iraq --- this after comments suggesting the United States might go it alone.
• White House: U.N. Vote on Iraq Will "Take Place This Week" Washington File 11 Mar 2003 -- President Bush March 11 continued to phone world leaders to discuss Iraq and the diplomatic discussions taking place at the United Nations Security Council on the amended U.S.-British-Spanish draft resolution, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters.
• Lugar Stresses Importance of Iraqi Reconstruction Washington File 11 Mar 2003 -- The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee warned the Bush administration March 11 not to underestimate the importance of reconstructing Iraq in the event of a conflict with that country.
• Biden Says U.N. Flag Needed for Iraq Reconstruction Washington File 11 Mar 2003 -- Senator Joseph Biden (Democrat from Delaware), the highest-ranking minority party member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed the importance of U.N. involvement in the rebuilding of Iraq in the event of a conflict with that country.
• Rumsfeld Confident of British Participation in Iraq Effort Washington File 11 Mar 2003 -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld issued a clarifying statement late March 11 saying that, in the event of war in Iraq, he expects British forces to play an important part.
• EDITORIAL: POWELL ON 1441 VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The 1991 cease-fire agreement that ended the Persian Gulf War required Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to get rid of his weapons of mass destruction, eliminate his ballistic missiles with a range of over one-hundred-fifty kilometers, and stop his nuclear weapons program. But Saddam Hussein has refused to comply with a series of United Nations resolutions requiring him to disarm.
• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The White House says it will call for a vote this week on a new U-N resolution on Iraq, despite opposition by key members of the Security Council. U-S officials say they could make some small changes in the resolution, but will not agree to a major extension of the March 17th deadline for Iraq to disarm.
• CONGRESS / IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- U-S lawmakers are criticizing the Bush administration for failing to inform Congress about plans for reconstructing Iraq after possible U-S-led military action to disarm that country.
• U-S / IRAQ / RECONSTRUCTION VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The United States is developing plans to use soldiers from the Iraqi regular army to help rebuild the country if a U-S-led coalition uses military force to disarm the country and topple the government of Saddam Hussein.
• DoD, USAID Teams Readying to Rebuild Iraq, Provide Assistance AFPS 11 Mar 2003 -- "Free Iraqis" who have lived in the United States and other democratic countries will provide valuable liaison between local Iraqi government officials and U.S. officials overseeing the country after any potential conflict.
• Rumsfeld: Defense Department Stands Ready for Action AFPS 11 Mar 2003 -- Saddam Hussein is "an accomplished deceiver" who will stop at nothing to "deceive the world and his own people," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in his Pentagon briefing today.
• Wolfowitz: Disarming Saddam Would Be 'Second Front' of War on Terrorism AFPS 11 Mar 2003 -- Capturing al Qaeda terrorists and disarming Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein are both part of the war against global terrorism, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said here today.
• EDITORIAL: BUSH CITES IRAQ'S NONCOMPLIANCE VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Saddam Hussein has had a chance to disarm. He has had twelve years in which to get rid of his chemical and biological weapons, eliminate his ballistic missiles with a range of more than one-hundred-fifty kilometers, and end his nuclear weapons program. In November, United Nations Security Council resolution fourteen-forty-one gave the Iraqi dictator one last chance.

United Nations

• Unresolved Disarmament Issues: Iraq's proscribed weapons programmes UNMOVIC 06 Mar 2003 -- Declassified UNMOVIC report made available to Security Council members -- Security Council resolution 1284 (1999) requires UNMOVIC to "address unresolved disarmament issues" and to identify "key remaining disarmament tasks." (...) The principal part of this document thus presents clusters of "unresolved disarmament issues", which are to be addressed by the inspection process (and Iraq) and from which "key remaining disarmament tasks" are to be identified and selected for early solution. [PDF 1.42 Mb]

• UN Press Release SC/7685 11 Mar 2003 -- FOLLOWING ARE SUMMARIES OF STATEMENTS MADE IN TODAY'S SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON IRAQ/KUWAIT. A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF THE MEETING WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE MEETING AS PRESS RELEASE SC/7685.

• Security Council begins hearing from over 40 non-members on disarming Iraq UN News Centre 11 Mar 2003 -- As United Nations Security Council members wrestled with widely differing approaches to ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, the 15-nation body today gave the floor to non-members to voice their views at the request of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNOMIVC / IAEA 11 Mar 2003
• Tracking Inspections in Iraq RFE/L 11 Mar 2003
• Iraq: UN supervises destruction of 3 more missiles UN News Centre 11 Mar 2003 -- United Nations inspections teams supervised the destruction of three more banned Iraqi missiles today and visited a food plant, three factories and a construction facility for possible evidence of proscribed biological, chemical or nuclear weapons programmes.
• Annan makes new appeal for Security Council unity on Iraq UN News Centre 11 Mar 2003 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a new appeal today for Security Council unity in the face of differing approaches to ridding Iraq of banned weapons of mass destruction, repeating earlier statements that war should only be a last resort.
• UN panel on damages arising from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait opens meeting UN News Centre 11 Mar 2003 -- The governing council of the United Nations panel set up to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990-1991 opened its 47th session in Geneva today.
• IRAQ-U-N VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The United States, Tuesday, rejected a proposal that would give Saddam Hussein another month, until April 17th, to fully disarm. As the U-N Security Council prepares to vote on yet another resolution demanding such disarmament, the prospect of war appears closer to many U-S editorial page writers. Yet the American press is still divided on the wisdom of a conflict.
• U-N / AID / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The United Nations says it has only received about one-third of the funds it has requested to avert a humanitarian crisis in Iraq should war break out. Meanwhile, the U-N children's agency says it is rushing hundreds of tons of high nutrient food to 400-thousand malnourished Iraqi children to bolster their chances of survival in the event of conflict.
• U-N / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Six uncommitted nations on the U-N Security Council are offering a new compromise resolution that gives Iraq additional time to disarm. But the proposal was quickly rejected by the United States.

Foreign Reactions

• U-S GERMAN RELATIONS VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Policy experts on both sides of the Atlantic are examining the implications of the conflicting views on how to deal with Iraq being expressed by Britain and the United States on the one hand and Germany and France on the other.
• MEXICO/SECURITY COUNCIL VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- One of the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that remains uncommitted in regard to a new resolution on Iraq is Mexico, a nation that shares a three-thousand-kilometer border with the United States and sends 85 per cent of its exports to the United States. Pressure is growing on Mexican President Vicente Fox from both sides on the issue.
• PAKISTAN / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Pakistan's prime minister Zafarullah Jamali says that his country has decided it will not support war against Iraq. In a televised address to the nation, the Pakistani leader has appealed for more time to find a peaceful solution of the Iraq crisis.
• HUNGARY / GERMANY VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer says he respects the opinion of several former Communist European countries which support the U-S position on the need to use force if Iraq refuses to disarm very soon. But during a visit to Hungary Mr. Fischer made clear Germany still believes a peaceful solution must be found on Iraq and that Europe should have a common security policy.
• OPEC / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided to maintain its current production quotas, saying there will be no oil shortage even if there is a war in Iraq.
• CHINA IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- China's government will not say if it will join Russia and France in vetoing a proposed United Nations resolution authorizing war to disarm Iraq.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Britain is warning of a dangerous division between Europe and the United States over the Iraq crisis, and is urging France and Russia not to veto a new U-N resolution on Iraq.
• PAKISTAN / IRAQ VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Pakistan's prime minister will address the nation on Tuesday (EDS: 8:30 P.M. LOCAL TIME) to outline his government's policy on Iraq. The mainly Muslim nation is among the six elected members of the U-N Security Council that are still undecided about how to vote on a U-S-sponsored resolution seeking authorization for a war on Iraq.

News Reports

• IRAQ WRAP VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- The United States and Britain are suggesting they may be willing to give Iraq more time to disarm -- beyond the March 17th deadline proposed in a draft United Nations resolution. That measure is facing a veto threat from Russia and France, which oppose military action against Baghdad for its failure to give up its weapons of mass destruction.
• JAMES PLACKE, BROOKINGS VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Amid speculation about a possible war in Iraq, concern about rising oil prices have been on the front pages of newspapers. To assess the situation, David Borgida of VOA-TV's "NewsLine" program spoke with James Placke, a Senior Associate at Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Washington. Mr. Placke discussed Iraq, OPEC and Oil.
• Human Shields Speak Out VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- As the threat of war in Iraq looms closer, a group of activists from North Carolina is heading to Baghdad to act as human shields. Two of the group's organizers say they can bring a unique Arab-American perspective to Iraqi civilians, and present a different image of America than the U.S. government portrays.
• ASIA WAR ECONOMY VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The threat of war in Iraq and concerns about the U-S economy are unnerving Asian economies, with many companies and consumers putting new spending on hold. Financial markets in the region have fallen sharply in the past few months on war fears.
• RICHARD REEVE, JANE'S VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- The White House says the United Nations Security Council will vote this week on a new resolution that could lead to military action against Iraq. Both France and Russia say they will vote against a draft resolution, sponsored by the U-S, Britain and Spain, that could lead to war. The controversy involving a new resolution has focused attention on some non-permanent members of the Security Council, that could sway the overall result. Three African countries, Cameroon, Guinea, and Angola are being pressured by both sides for their votes. Richard Reeve is Africa editor of Jane's Sentinel Security, a London-based security information service.
• LAIRD ANDERSON VOA 11 Mar 2003 -- Published reports suggest British and U-S Special Forces may already be at work inside Iraq helping to pave the way for a U.S.-led invasion...if one is ordered. Laird Anderson is a retired U.S. Army colonel and Special Forces officer. And he tells News Now's Tom Crosby the presence of Special Forces working inside Iraq represents a sound tactical decision: