• 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 CONTINUES INFORMATION CAMPAIGN WITH LEAFLET DROPS 12 Mar 2003 -- Coalition aircraft dropped informational leaflets today over southern Iraq.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ / SPACE VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- With U-S forces massing around Iraq, a senior military official says America's space-based assets will give Washington dominance in any battle with Baghdad.
• Transcript: Air Force Briefing on "Space: The Warfighter's Perspective" 12 Mar 2003 -- "Good morning. Today we're going to have an on-the-record briefing on the support that military operations in space provide to our warfighters. The first briefer will be Major General Judd Blaisdell, the director of Space Operations and Integration for the Air Force. And then he'll be followed by Colonel Steven Fox, the director of Army space support."

Deployments

• PENTAGON/RED SEA VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Defense officials may shift two aircraft carrier battle groups into the Red Sea for use in a possible war with Iraq.
• New Yorkers prepare to leave one front line for another AFPN 12 Mar 2003 -- The 722nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron medical specialists do not know where they may be going to war, but they know why they are going.
• The Dirty Dozen Squared; Marines make ammo supply point their own USMC News 12 Mar 2003 -- In the middle of a seemingly endless expanse of Kuwaiti desert, Marines not professionally trained in security force tactics guarded I Marine Expeditionary Force's ammunition for two weeks.

US Policy

• A Commitment to Post-War Iraq DefendAmerica.mil 12 Apr 2003 -- If U.S. and other coalition forces take military action in Iraq, they will have contributions to make to the country's temporary administration and the welfare of the Iraqi people. It will be necessary to provide humanitarian relief, organize basic services and work to establish security for the liberated Iraqis. Actions would include the following steps

• White House Daily Briefing White House 12 Mar 2003
• Hussein Has Had Enough Time to Disarm, Rice Says AFPS 12 Mar 2003 -- History has shown that when democracies wait too long to confront dictators, more people die, said National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
• Britain Proposes Iraqi Disarmament Benchmarks Washington File 12 Mar 2003 -- The United Kingdom March 12 proposed to the Security Council a series of benchmarks for Iraq to meet that would demonstrate full, unconditional, immediate and active cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors.
• Bush Continues Diplomacy on Iraq by Telephone Washington File 12 Mar 2003 -- President Bush March 12 made a series of phone calls to world leaders on the Iraq situation. He spoke with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, with United Arab Emirates President Nuhayyan bin Sultan Al Zayid, and with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer reported.
• Wolfowitz Calls Disarming Iraq "Second Front" in War on Terror Washington File 12 Mar 2003 -- Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) conference in Washington that once again, if necessary, the United States is prepared to wage a war against tyranny. Fighting the terrorist threat, he said, is "a new kind of struggle," but the dangers are just as significant as those faced by American soldiers who have, in the past, "fought and sacrificed in defense of freedom."
• "The Right War for the Right Reasons," by Senator John McCain Washington File 12 Mar 2003 -- "American and British armed forces will likely soon begin to disarm Iraq by destroying the regime of Saddam Hussein. We do not know whether they will have the explicit authorization of veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council. But either way, the men and women ordered to undertake this mission can take pride in the justice of their cause."
• U-S-IRAQ-FRANCE VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- The Bush administration Wednesday lashed out at France for its unequivocal threat to veto any new U-N Security Council resolution that would authorize the use of force against Iraq. The State Department said the veto, seemingly guaranteed by French President Jacques Chirac, makes the peaceful disarmament of Iraq less likely.
• BUSH-IRAQ OVERNIGHTER VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- President Bush is making his first public appearance of the week today (Thursday) amidst a private lobbying effort to pass a new U-N resolution on Iraq. Mr. Bush has been in constant contact with the co-sponsors of the measure -- the Prime Ministers of Britain and Spain.
• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- The White House is indicating it could be flexible on the wording of a new U-N resolution on Iraq. Intense negotiations are going on in private and the Bush administration is saying little in public.
• BUSH WAR GAMBLE VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- What happens in Iraq over the next several weeks could make or break President Bush's hopes for re-election next year. A U-S led invasion of Iraq carries the prospect of both political reward and risk for Mr. Bush.
• EDITORIAL: IRAQ STILL FAILS TO DISARM VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- United Nations Security Council resolution fourteen-forty-one was approved unanimously in November. But since that vote, nothing indicates that Saddam Hussein has made a genuine decision to disarm.

United Nations

• U-N/IRAQ ONITER VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- The diplomatic clock continues to tick at the United Nations, where members of the Security Council are engaged in intense talks over Iraq. Diplomats met into Wednesday evening to try to formulate language on Iraqi disarmament.

• UN Press Release SC/7687 12 Mar 2003 -- THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF STATEMENTS AS THEY ARE MADE AVAILABLE IN TODAY'S SECURITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ON THE SITUATION IN IRAQ. THE FULL PRESS RELEASE WILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER THE MEETING AS PRESS RELEASE SC/7687.
• Security Council hears call for more time for Iraq weapons inspections UN News Centre 12 Mar 2003 -- As members of the United Nations Security Council continued private talks on the way forward in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, the 15-nation body concluded its open debate among non-members today.
• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNOMIVC / IAEA 12 Mar 2003
• Tracking Inspections in Iraq RFE/L 12 Mar 2003
• 3 more Iraqi missiles destroyed under UN supervision UN News Centre 12 Mar 2003 -- United Nations arms inspectors supervised the destruction of three more banned Iraqi missiles today, continued their search of food plants for possible evidence of biological weapons and checked factories and a medical centre for chemical and nuclear evidence.
• IRAQ / INSPECTIONS VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Weapons inspections and missile destruction continued in Iraq Wednesday, but there was no sign of promised documentation regarding tons of missing chemical and biological agents.
• UN observer mission pulls non-essential staff from posts along Iraq-Kuwait border UN News Centre 12 Mar 2003 -- The United Nations mission monitoring the demilitarized zone (DMZ) along the Iraq-Kuwait border said today it has pulled non-essential staff from their posts, relocating them to Kuwait City.

Foreign Reactions

• IRAQ WAR / SOUTHEAST ASIA VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Diplomatic arm-twisting (pressure) on the issue of war in Iraq is taking place not only at the United Nations and among the 15 members of the U-N Security Council. Diplomatic maneuvering is also going on among Southeast Asia's predominantly Muslim countries.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Britain is proposing that Iraq meet six disarmament tests if it wants to avoid a war. Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament today (Wednesday) he is working "flat out" for passage of a new U-N resolution that would include those six conditions. The move comes amid mounting domestic criticism over his hard-line Iraq policy.

News Reports

• IRAQ WRAP VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- It's been another day of intense diplomacy both in Washington and at the United Nations aimed at securing passage of a draft U-N resolution that would authorize war against Iraq for its failure to fully disarm. Britain is now outlining a set of specific steps President Saddam Hussein would have to take in order to avoid military action.
• POST-WAR IRAQ VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Possible U-S-led military action against Iraq is the topic of much debate in Washington. One subject that's drawing particular attention is how to rebuild a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
• NYC / ANTI-WAR VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- New York, the city hurt the most by international terrorism, has voted to oppose war against Iraq, except as a last resort. New York is one of more than a hundred U-S cities to adopt an anti-war measure.
• GARY SAMORE, LONDON ANALYST VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- The United States has indicated a willingness to extend by a few days the March 17 deadline proposed in the latest draft U-N resolution on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. However, a White House spokesman dismisses a suggestion to push back the deadline at least a month. Spokesman Ari Fleischer says the United States will call a vote on the issue by the end of the week.
• SCHEUNEMANN-WILSON-IRAQ VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- The possible war with Iraq has been the top story for some time. To assess the current situation, David Borgida of VOA-TV's "NewsLine" program, moderated a pro and con debate with Randy Scheunemann, of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, and Ambassador Joseph Wilson, an adjunct scholar of the Middle East Institute.
• "CODE PINK" COMES TO WASHINGTON VOA 12 Mar 2003 -- Washington was aglow in "pink" this past weekend as several thousand women and men participated in a series of events called "Code Pink: Women's Pre-emptive Strike for Peace." Named to contrast with the government's color-coded terrorism alerts, the week-long 'Code Pink peace convergence' included rallies, concerts and other events. all to protest U.S. involvement in a war with Iraq. The 'Pre-emptive Strike' culminated on Saturday, International Women's Day, with a march and anti-war rally in front of the White House.