Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• Transcript: CENTCOM Operation Iraqi Freedom Briefing CENTCOM 29 Mar 2003 -- "And Operation Iraqi Freedom continues. We continue to make good progress in accordance with our plan. We continue to believe it's a well-orchestrated plan, it's flexible, and it's producing the daily successes that we need on the battlefield. We continue to apply good pressure across a broad area of lines of operations. This allows us to put pressure on the regime. It allows us to communicate with the Iraqi civilian leaders in the various communities and to take that information and then target some of these terror cells that are holding hostage many of these cities of Southern Iraq. It also allows us to work in the west and in the north with a number of tribal leaders to continue to expand influence of free Iraqis throughout those parts of the country."
• Transcript: DoD News Briefing - ASD PA Clarke and Maj. Gen. McChrystal 29 Mar 2003 -- "Operation Iraqi Freedom continues. More than 290,000 coalition forces are deployed in support of combat operations, more than a third of those inside Iraq. Our ground operations are progressing well. There continues to be sporadic resistance in the south. However, our supply lines are working well and we continue to re-supply our front-line forces. The air campaign continues as well. We flew more than 1,000 sorties over Iraq yesterday, mostly against Iraqi regime and leadership targets, command and control, and Republican Guard divisions."
• Transcript - OP FALCONER MEDIA BRIEF Australian Department of Defence 29 Mar 2003 -- "Our Special Forces elements continue to operate deep inside Iraq. There have been no significant incidents over the period. And now to Air Operations. Over the past 24 hours our FA-18s have conducted Defensive Counter Air, strike and close air support missions"

• Strike Eagles destroy Ba'ath leadership facility AFPN 29 Mar 2003 -- A pair of Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles attacked a Ba'ath Party headquarters building in southern Iraq on March 28, where some 200 leaders of the Iraqi "irregular forces" were meeting.
• Bomb Kills U.S. Troops Near Najaf; Iraqi Missile Damages Kuwait City Mall AFPS 29 Mar 2003 -- Four U.S. 3rd Infantry Division soldiers were killed in Iraq today by an apparent suicide bomber at a road checkpoint near Najaf.
• U.S. Troops' Remains Found Near Nasiriyah AFPS 29 Mar 2003 -- The remains of American troops have been discovered in southern Iraq near where paramilitary forces loyal to Saddam Hussein have been accused by the Pentagon of executing U.S. service members after they'd surrendered.
• Hussein's Ba'ath Party Hangouts Blasted; 200 Killed in Air Attacks AFPS 29 Mar 2003 -- U.S. and coalition aircraft yesterday blasted nine meeting places favored by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party officials and paramilitary chiefs.
• Iraq: Bombs Strike Baghdad, U.S. Forces In Fierce Fight At Nasiriya RFE/L 29 Mar 2003 -- U.S. and British forces have used their most powerful bombs against Iraq's capital, while American troops have been involved in a fierce firefight outside the strategic central city of Nasiriya.
• Iraq: Suicide Bomber Kills Five U.S. Soldiers RFE/L 29 Mar 2003 -- As air strikes continued today in Baghdad and areas south of the capital, the U.S. military said today that a suicide car bomber killed five soldiers at a military checkpoint on a highway near the vanguard of coalition forces.
• Iraq: Suicide Attack Kills U.S. Soldiers As Iraqi Forces Resist South of Baghdad RFE/L 29 Mar 2003 -- Four U.S. soldiers were killed today in a suicide car bombing in central Iraq, as coalition forces subjected Baghdad and other cities to another day of airstrikes and artillery fire.
• Iraqi Military, Political Assets Are Being Targeted, U.S. Says Washington File 29 Mar 2003 -- In their 10th day of operations in Iraq, U.S. and coalition forces continue to target Iraqi regime military and political assets, as well as to bring humanitarian relief to civilians, according to U.S. military spokesmen in Qatar.
• Coalition Secures Iraq's Southern Oil Fields, Pentagon Reports Washington File 29 Mar 2003 -- Coalition forces have secured Iraq's southern oil fields and one of three of Iraq's oil refineries, the Pentagon reports.
• IRAQ WRAP (3rd UPDATE) VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- The embattled Iraqi government has turned to unconventional means in an attempt to thwart the progress of U-S-led coalition forces towards Baghdad. On Saturday, a suicide bomber struck near the central city of Najaf.
• IRAQ WRAP (4th UPDATE) VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- The United States has launched new bomb and missile strikes on Baghdad. Meanwhile, the embattled Iraqi government has turned to unconventional means -- including suicide bombings -- in its bid to thwart the progress of coalition forces towards the capital.
• IRAQ / U-S BRIEFING VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- The United States Central Command has announced that it is limiting cruise missile flights over Saudi Arabia after that country complained that some of the missiles had fallen onto its territory. A top Central Command official also says it is still too early to confirm the details of a suicide attack in central Iraq that killed four U-S soldiers Saturday.
• IRAQ WRAP (L-UPDATE) VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- A suicide bomber in central Iraq has killed four American soldiers as coalition warplanes continue to pound Baghdad.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- U-S military officials say they are very concerned about a suicide bombing in central Iraq that killed four American soldiers.
• IRAQ / PARAMILITARY ATTACKS VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- U-S Army ground forces, poised about 80 kilometers south of Baghdad, are still battling Iraqi paramilitary fighters trying to slow down their advance. At least one unit of the Army's Third Infantry Division has been attacked by determined Iraqi fighters every night for the past week.
• IRAQ WRAP (L-2nd UPDATE) VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- A suicide bomber in central Iraq has killed four American soldiers and an Iraqi official says such assaults will become "routine military policy" for the Baghdad government.
• SCREAMING EAGLES APACHES POUND MEDINA DIVISION CENTCOM 29 Mar 2003 -- Apache Attack Helicopters from the 101st Airborne Air Assault Division pounded the Republican Guards Medina Division during an early evening (March 28) Deep Strike in the vicinity of the city of Karbala."
• UPDATE TO CAR BOMB EXPLOSION CENTCOM 29 Mar 2003 -- The initial release reported five U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division killed. Upon further investigation, there were only four U.S. soldiers killed.
• CAR BOMB EXPLOSION CENTCOM 29 Mar 2003 -- Five U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division were killed today, at approximately 10:40 a.m., when a car bomb exploded at the unit's check-point in Central Iraq.
• MOI BUILDING TARGETED TODAY CENTCOM 29 Mar 2003 -- The Ministry of Information in Baghdad was targeted by Tomahawk missiles early today (March 29).
• IRAQ / WRAP VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- U-S military offiicals say a car-bomb attack at a U-S checkpoint in central Iraq killed at least five U-S soldiers. Meanwhile, coalition forces in Iraq are keeping up their relentless round-the-clock bombing of Baghdad, while some advanced ground units have halted their dash to the Iraqi capital to beef up stretched supply lines.
• IRAQ / CENTCOM / PAUSE VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- A senior U-S commander at coalition military headquarters in Qatar denies that there has been a pause in military operations aimed at ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The denial came after U-S field commanders were quoted by reporters as saying advance units in the push to Baghdad had been ordered to halt operations while their supply lines are built up.
• IRAQ / SAUDI / TOMAHAWKS VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- U-S military officials in the Gulf say they have limited cruise missile flights over Saudi Arabia after that country complained that some of the missiles had landed on its territory. But a top U-S general says the move will not affect the U-S led coalition's operations.
• USS Mount Whitney supplies Persian Gulf-bound ships USMC News 29 Mar 2003 -- Sailors from USS Mount Whitney and pilots and crews from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron- 6 conducted two separate vertical replenishments at sea (RAS) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom March 27 and 28 in the Gulf of Aden.
• Doha military personnel remain vigilant despite SCUD alerts USMC News 29 Mar 2003 -- Like an Orwellian voice coming from above, the announcement shattered the early afternoon calm March 27, warning Camp Doha's military and civilian personnel of approaching Iraqi missiles.

Deployments

• Experience levels vary in Operation Iraqi Freedom AFPN 29 Mar 2003 -- The level of experience of Air Force members currently deployed to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia runs the gamut, from battle-tested veteran to bright-eyed teenager.

US Policy

• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- President Bush says the U-S-led military coalition in Iraq is less than 80 kilometers from Baghdad. The president and opposition party leaders are talking about how to pay for the war in Iraq.
• Wolfowitz Says U.S. Hopes for Rapid Transfer of Power to Iraqis Washington File 29 Mar 2003 -- In a post-Saddam Iraq, the United States hopes to see "as quickly as possible, a real transfer of authority and power to the Iraqi people, and to a government that represents them through democratic institutions," according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. He spoke in a March 26 interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
• "Iraq Will Be Free," Bush Says in Radio Address Washington File 29 Mar 2003 -- In recent days, U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq have cleared mines, opened the port of Umm Qasr to humanitarian aid, secured more than 600 oil wells, prevented missile launches, and advanced to within 50 miles of Baghdad, President Bush said in his weekly radio address to the nation on March 29.

United Nations

• Iraq: UN agencies urge support for massive humanitarian appeal UN News Centre 29 Mar 2003 -- Representatives of United Nations agencies working to deliver humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered people of Iraq today urged donor support for a massive appeal to fund the relief effort.
• IRAQ / ARCHEOLOGY VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- As U-S and British forces advance toward Baghdad, television pictures show a land that seems to offer nothing but desert. But for officials of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -- UNESCO -- nothing could be further from the truth. The land of Iraq, they say, has long been considered a crossroad of ancient civilizations.

Foreign Reactions

• IRAQ / EUROPE / DEMOS VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- Anti-war demonstrators across Europe are taking to the streets again to voice their opposition to the on-going war in Iraq. Rallies are planned in major cities in many European countries.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- Britain has brought home 10 of its dead servicemen from the Iraq war, as the defense ministry investigates whether possible "friendly fire" has killed another British soldier.
• IRAQ / IRAN / SYRIA VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- Iraq is denying allegations by coalition officials that Iraqi soldiers are disguising themselves as civilians. Meanwhile, Iran and Syria have strongly denied charges by a top U-S official that they are getting involved in the U-S led war in Iraq.
• NOKOR/NUCLEAR/IRAQ VOA 29 Mar 2003 -- North Korea says it will not make concessions in the standoff over its nuclear program. A commentary in the Communist Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun says Iraq made compromises in allowing in weapons inspectors, and its destiny is now at stake.

News Reports