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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
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News Reports

Current Operations

• COALITION FORCES TARGET IRAQI RADAR SYSTEMS 14 Mar 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 target acquisition radar and an early warning radar, located approximately 230 miles west of Baghdad. The strikes occurred between 9:00 and 9:20 a.m., EST.
• Coalition Drops Leaflets in Northern Iraq EUCOM 14 Mar 2003 -- Coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zone in northern Iraq dropped informational leaflets near Iraqi anti-aircraft-artillery batteries at approximately 8:50 a.m. EST.
• Coalition Forces Target Iraqi Radar Sites, Thousands More Leaflets Dropped AFPS 14 Mar 2003 -- Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to attack Iraqi radar sites southwest of Baghdad March 13, U.S. Central Command officials reported.
• Iraq: 'Tip of the Spear' -- U.S. Combat Teams Near Border Prepare For Battle RFE/L 16 Mar 2003 -- Tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers are now readying themselves near Kuwait's northern border for possible combat in Iraq. RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz is embedded with the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division at a forward camp in the desert called Assembly Area Hammer. He reports on how the soldiers and equipment of a mechanized infantry task force will work together if there is a war against Iraq.

Deployments

• Incirlik supports 'unexpected guests' AFPN 14 Mar 2003 -- People from the 39th Services Squadron here recently transformed an old fitness center into contingency lodging now bedding down nearly 400 deployed troops. But "Motel 39" is just one small piece of the bed-down and feeding operations puzzle.
• PENTAGON/FREE IRAQI FORCES VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- The commander of the U-S military unit training Iraqi opposition forces in Hungary has acknowledged the volunteers will participate mainly in post-war relief efforts and not frontline combat roles as originally anticipated.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ WEAPONS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Anticipating complaints over the use of depleted uranium weapons in any new war with Iraq, U-S military officials have staged a pre-emptive strike of their own against critics.
• PENTAGON/IRAQ/SHIPS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- The United States has begun moving warships from the eastern Mediterranean into the Red Sea, after failing to win permission from Turkey for overflights by cruise missiles and aircraft.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ / WAR VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- War planners at the Pentagon say they are ready to launch a massive attack, if President Bush decides to use force to disarm Iraq. Military analysts expect a conflict would be very different from the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
• Media 'circus' arrives at Task Force Tarawa USMC News 14 Mar 2003 -- Twenty-one media representatives from television and newspapers around the world arrived at Camp Ryan recently and received their welcome aboard brief. The brief was held to let the media know what was expected of them, the rules and regulations regarding camp life, journalism ground rules and they also heard from various commanding officers.
• New grenade range construction under way USMC News 14 Mar 2003 -- During a regular training year, the Marine Air Ground Combat Center conducts 10 Combined Arms Exercises, two Desert Fire Exercises, Steel Knight and Desert Scimitar exercises using the more than 15 grenade, tank, machine gun, Nuclear Biological Chemical Defense and tactics range areas as training fields.

US Policy

• White House Daily Briefing White House 14 Mar 2003
• SADDAM'S CHEMICAL WEAPONS CAMPAIGN: Halabja, March 16, 1988 State Department 14 Mar 2003 -- SADDAM HUSSEIN IS THE FIRST WORLD LEADER IN MODERN TIMES TO HAVE BRUTALLY USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST HIS OWN PEOPLE. His goals were to systematically terrorize and exterminate the Kurdish population in northern Iraq, to silence his critics, and to test the effectiveness of his chemical and biological weapons. Hussein launched chemical attacks against 40 Kurdish villages and thousands of innocent civilians in 1987-88, using them as testing grounds. The worst of these attacks devastated the city of Halabja on March 16, 1988. [PDF 323 Kb]
• Iraq - Uranium Procurement Attempts from Niger (Taken Question) State Department 14 Mar 2003 -- "Did the State Department recommend not sending the forged documents related to Iraqi attempts to procure uranium from Niger to the IAEA? Did we send anyone to Niger to explore this issue?"
• U.S. to Recruit Iraqis to Help with Reconstruction, Official Says Washington File 14 Mar 2003 -- The United States is recruiting Iraqis living in democratic nations to help provinces in post-war Iraq establish committees to help plan and implement the country's reconstruction, a senior defense official said.
• Text: Halabja Massacre Remembered Fifteen Years Later Washington File 14 Mar 2003 -- Following is the text of the statement made by State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher recalling the March 16, 1988, chemical attack by Saddam Hussein's forces on the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq. On that day, an estimated 5,000 innocent civilians were killed and 10,000 were injured.
• BUSH IRAQ GAS VOA 14 Mar 2003 --President Bush met Friday with survivors of a chemical weapons attack against Iraqi civilians 15 years ago. It is part of the Bush Administration's continuing campaign to demonize Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
• DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- President Bush believes that toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq should be the first step towards a comprehensive political reconstruction of the whole Middle East. According to the President a new, democratic Iraq, can become a model for the Arab and Muslim world. Political liberty in the Middle East will strengthen its stability and improve security for America and the world. The president's vision met with enthusiasm among his followers and skepticism among some scholars and observers of Middle Eastern politics.
• Bush Meets with Victims of Saddam Hussein's Chemical Attacks Washington File 14 Mar 2003 -- President Bush met in the Oval Office March 14 for 20 minutes with three Iraqis affected by Saddam Hussein's chemical attacks in Iraq in the late 1980s.
• Bush, World Leaders to Discuss Iraq at Azores Summit AFPS 14 Mar 2003 -- President Bush will travel to the Azores islands off the coast of Portugal this weekend to meet with several world leaders on the situation in Iraq, White House officials announced.
• CONGRESS / IRAQ DEBATE VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- While the United Nations debates whether to debate a resolution authorizing use of force to disarm Iraq, a key U-S lawmaker is criticizing the lack of debate in Congress on the issue. Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, is concerned by the Senate's silence on the prospect of U-S-led military action against Iraq.
• IRAQ / WRAP VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- President Bush will meet with the leaders of Britain and Spain in the Azores Islands, off the coast of Portugal Sunday, for what is being described as a final attempt to gain United Nations support for military action against Iraq. After weeks of debate, the U-N Security Council appears hopelessly divided on the question of Iraqi disarmament and the White House is describing Sunday's meeting as perhaps the last chance to avoid war.
• IRAQ / DEMOCRATS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- With all the focus on a possible war with Iraq, the nine Democrats running for the U-S presidency next year are having a difficult time getting the public's attention
• EDITORIAL: IRAQIS LOOK FOR LIBERATORS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- The late British leader Winston Churchill said the Second World War should be called "the Unnecessary War" -- because "there never was a war more easy to stop." What Churchill meant by this was explained by U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. For years, Mr. Wolfowitz pointed out, "the world had allowed the [German] Nazis to build a war machine -- in direct violation of international agreements. For years, nothing was done -- despite the warnings of Churchill and others, and in spite of the fact that courageous leaders could easily have put a stop to the threat that was building."
• EDITORIAL: WOLFOWITZ ON TODAY'S ENEMY VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- In contrast to earlier times, said U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, "Today's enemy does not. . .announce his plans, or when and where he will strike. Today's enemy is found in shadowy terrorist organizations and outlaw regimes that harbor them, provide them training, and supply them with weapons."
• BUSH/IRAQ VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Bush will travel to the Azores Sunday to meet with the leaders of Britain and Spain to discuss their joint proposal for a new U-N resolution against Iraq.
• EDITORIAL: SADDAM'S ATROCITIES VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- For decades, the people of Iraq have been brutally oppressed by Saddam Hussein. The United States and its allies are working to liberate them. As President George W. Bush has said, "Liberty for the Iraqi people is a great moral cause and a great strategic goal. The people of Iraq deserve it, and the security of all nations requires it."
• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- President Bush will meet with the leaders of Britain and Spain on Sunday to discuss their efforts to pass a U-N resolution to disarm Iraq. The meeting is to take place in Portugal's Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic.

• Free Iraqi Forces Committed to Democracy, Rule of Law AFPS 14 Mar 2003 -- American service members training Free Iraqi Forces are impressed by the exiles' commitment to democracy and willingness to secure peace in their homeland.
• Transcript: Briefing on Free Iraqi Forces 14 Mar 2003 -- "The Department of Defense has established this training task force to train the Iraqi opposition volunteers, also known as Free Iraqi Forces, in basic military skills, such as self-defense, and specialized civil-military operations to include coordinating humanitarian relief for Iraqi citizens who may need assistance during or after a potential conflict in Iraq. The training task force has been established under the provisions of the Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998."

United Nations

• UNMOVIC IAEA Press Statement on Inspection Activities in Iraq UNMOVIC/IAEA 14 Mar 2003
• Tracking Inspections in Iraq RFE/L 14 mar 2003
• UN supervises destruction of more banned Iraqi missiles UN News Centre 14 Mar 2003 -- United Nations weapons teams supervised the destruction of four more banned Iraqi Al Samoud 2 missiles today, bringing to 65 - more than half the estimated total - the number destroyed since the 1 March deadline set for starting the process.
• U-N / IRAQ VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Efforts to formulate a compromise on Iraqi disarmament are reported to be at a stalemate. Diplomats at the United Nations say chances now appear slim that agreement can be reached among the members of the security council. Attention now turns to a weekend meeting in the Azores islands.
• IRAQ INSPECTORS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Iraq says it is continuing to dismantle its Al Samoud Two missiles, as U-N inspectors wait for a promised Iraqi report on its disposal of deadly V-X nerve agent.
• W-F-P /IRAQ / AFRICA VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- The U-N World Food Program says it is accelerating plans to get humanitarian aid into Iraq, in case there is a disruption of the United Nations' oil-for-food program. But the food agency says its preparations are being hindered because of a lukewarm response from international donors.

Foreign Reactions

• TURKEY / POLITICS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved a cabinet presented by new Prime Minster Tayyip Erdogan Friday. The action paves the way for a possible second vote on the presence of U-S troops in Turkey.
• RUSSIA / IRAQ VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Russia's deputy foreign minister, Yuri Fedotov, has rejected a British proposal aimed at winning support for a U-S-backed resolution on Iraq. Mr. Fedotov says the proposal, in Russia's view, still fails to address the main problem: how to prevent war against Iraq.

News Reports

• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 6, Number 10 RFE/L 14 Mar 2003 -- IRAQI PRESIDENT ADDRESSES REPUBLICAN GUARD / KURDISH ASSESSMENT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS / KURDISH LETTER TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REBUTS TURKISH CLAIMS / JALAL TALABANI ON KURDISH ATTITUDES TOWARDS TURKS / TURKOMANS WANT ARMS / TURKOMAN FEARFUL OF TURKISH INTERVENTION IN IRAQ / IRAQI TURKOMANS REQUEST UN PROTECTION FROM KURDISH GROUP / SCIRI COMMANDER REJECTS U.S. MILITARY COMMANDER IN IRAQ IN POST-SADDAM ERA / ARAB LEAGUE DELEGATION LOBBIES UN AND IRAQ / TURKISH AKP HEAD POISED TO LEAD GOVERNMENT, HINTS VOTE ON U.S. TROOPS MUST WAIT / EARLY CONTACT WITH WHITE HOUSE ON IRAQ 'NOT GREAT.' / TURKISH MILITARY RESPONDS TO REPORTS OF U.S. TROOPS / SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS NO IRAQI RESPONSE TO U.A.E. INITIATIVE... / IRAQ OIL FIELDS REPORTEDLY MINED / THERE'S A HACKER AFOOT / IAEA BRIEFS SECURITY COUNCIL / UNMOVIC RELEASES REPORT ON IRAQ'S 'UNRESOLVED DISARMAMENT ISSUES.' / UN HALTS U-2 RECONNAISSANCE AFTER INCIDENT / UNICEF GEARING UP TO AID IRAQI CHILDREN / U.K. PROPOSES SIX NEW CONDITIONS FOR IRAQ COMPLIANCE / CHINESE OFFICIALS COMMENT ON INSPECTIONS, UN RESOLUTION ON IRAQ / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS UNILATERAL ACTION AGAINST IRAQ WOULD VIOLATE UN CHARTER... / ...AS MOSCOW CONFERS WITH OPPONENTS OF WAR / U.S. UP IN ARMS OVER UNMOVIC ORAL REPORT / U.S. SAYS IRAQI FAILURE TO DECLARE UAVS IS VIOLATION / U.S. REJECTS 45-DAY DELAY AS UN DEBATE ON IRAQ RAGES / RUMSFELD HINTS U.S. CAN GO IT ALONE IN IRAQ
• AFRICA / URANIUM VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the F-B-I, may take up the case of forged documents cited by the Bush administration as evidence of Iraq's nuclear ambitions.
• U.S.-Trained Volunteer Iraqi Exiles Await the Call to Go Home Washington File 14 Mar 2003 -- They come from all walks of life -- some are business owners while others are teachers in North America and Europe --- but these members of the Iraqi opposition have now turned their backs on their economic livelihood to work alongside coalition forces in the Persian Gulf to help build a free and democratic Iraq as soon as the opportunity arises.
• Brookings Scholar Scores Saddam Hussein's Human Rights Record Washington File 14 Mar 2003 -- Those who supported the Clinton administration's armed interventions in Bosnia, Haiti and Kosovo have even more reason to support a U.S.-led war with Iraq, according to Brookings scholar Kenneth Pollack.
• EDITORIAL: IRAQ'S CULTURAL TREASURES VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- In his address to the American people on March 1st, President George W. Bush said the people of Iraq have a "proud heritage." A cradle of civilization, Iraq is the home of the world's first cities. Many scholars believe that writing, agriculture, and government first developed there. Some ten-thousand archeological sites have been identified.
• Christians Contemplate War VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- As the United States contemplates an invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush has repeatedly stressed that this war. should it come. will not be a battle between Christianity and Islam. Even so, many American Christians are turning to their Bibles for guidance in the matter, and they're coming to very different conclusions about the impending war.
• MARTINAGE-AIR OPERATIONS VOA 14 Mar 2003 -- Of course, they are continuing to enforce the northern and southern no-fly zones and, as part of that, going after Iraqi air defense sites, air defense radars, missile launchers, and other targets of concern.