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Current Operations

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers 07 Apr 2003 -- "Operation Iraqi Freedom continues. The battlefield has certainly shifted since the last time we were at this podium on Thursday. We have over 340,000 coalition forces in the region, more than 125,000 inside Iraq. We've secured Baghdad International Airport and have begun using it for coalition missions. We've secured most of the major roads into and out of Baghdad. We've visited two of Saddam's presidential palaces. Republican Guard divisions have only been able to conduct sporadic attacks on our forces."
• CENTCOM Operation Iraqi Freedom Briefing CENTCOM 07 Apr 2003 -- The operation continues. Let me provide you a short update on some of the activities that occurred in the last 24 hours
• Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon - Lobby briefing Ministry of Defence 07 Apr 2003 -- "I want to try and bring you up to date with the campaign in Iraq and then take your questions. (...) Recent days have seen further significant progress against our campaign objectives. The United States V Corps has seized Baghdad International Airport, defeated the Republican Guards Medina Division. The First Marine Expeditionary Force overcame the Baghdad and Alnida Divisions of the Republican Guard. This morning we have seen the pictures of US forces in the very centre of Baghdad."
• Statement by Air Marshal Brian Burridge, UK National Contingent Commander Ministry of Defence 07 Apr 2003 -- "The last 48 hours have been historic for the people of Basrah. After decades under the heel of Saddam's brutal regime, UK forces are in the process of delivering liberation to the people of Basrah."
• Iraq (Military Operations) UK Parliament 07 Apr 2003 -- "The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): With permission, Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a further statement about military action in Iraq and the efforts that we are making to help the Iraqi people to rebuild their country. "
• Transcript: Media Briefing Australia's contribution to Global Operations Australian Ministry of Defence 07 Apr 2003 -- "Again, there have been no significant incidents or changes to report regarding our forces deployed in the Middle East Area of Operations over the past 24 hours. All our personnel remain safe and accounted for."

• PENTAGON / CHEMICAL VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- The Pentagon is taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach to reports of possible chemical weapons finds by coalition forces in Iraq.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ: WHAT NEXT? VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- U-S soldiers are sitting in some of Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces and the Iraqi leader is nowhere to be seen. But senior defense officials aren't ready to declare victory yet. Still, they are turning some of their attention to the next phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom and that is, what comes after Saddam.
• IRAQ WRAP 2nd UPDATE VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Coalition troops are consolidating their position in the center of Iraq, as U-S soldiers find what they describe as suspicious chemicals. Meanwhile, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair meet in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to discuss post-war Iraq.
• PENTAGON / RUMSFELD VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says it is too soon to declare victory in Iraq, but he does say the regime's leaders are running out of options.
• PENTAGON / WAR VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Top defense officials say Saddam Hussein's regime is collapsing around him as the circle of coalition forces closes in on Baghdad.
• U.S. Troops Seize Presidential Palaces; British Declare Battle For Basra 'Over' RFE/L 07 Apr 2003 -- U.S. troops entered the center of Baghdad today, seizing two of Saddam Hussein's palace compounds. The U.S. military described the operation, involving tanks and armored vehicles, as a "show of force" rather than a final attack.
• IRAQ WRAP UPDATE VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Coalition troops consolidated their position around Baghdad, as U-S military officers say they may have found drums containing suspicious chemicals. Meanwhile, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are meeting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to discuss post-war Iraq.
• Rumsfeld Says Saddam Hussein No Longer Runs Much of Iraq Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says life without Saddam Hussein "is not a distant dream" for the Iraqi people.
• Coalition Forces Isolating Baghdad, Moving Into City Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- The main focus of coalition operations continues in and around Baghdad with U.S. Marines isolating the capital from the east, while the U.S. Fifth Corps, led by the 3rd Infantry Division, continues operating in the west, northwest and directly into the capital itself, says a Central Command briefing officer.
• PENTAGON / SADDAM VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- American-led coalition forces have bombed another target in Baghdad where they believe Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his two sons may have been attending a meeting.
• MARINES ATTACK ENEMY FORCES NEAR BAGHDAD CENTCOM 07 Apr 2003 -- In the past 24 hours, the First Marine Expeditionary Force punished Iraqi forces resisting from inside populated cities.
• INTERIM RELEASE: REPORT OF BOMBING IN AL MANSOUR CENTCOM 07 Apr 2003 -- US Central Command is continuing its investigation into an allegation that missiles hit the al Mansour section of Baghdad, Iraq.
• INITIAL RELEASE: REPORT OF BOMBING IN AL MANSOUR CENTCOM 07 Apr 2003 -- US Central Command is investigating an allegation that missiles hit the al Mansour section of Baghdad, Iraq.
• POOL REPORT FOR TRIP OF GENERAL FRANKS VISITING TROOPS IN IRAQ CENTCOM 07 Apr 2003 -- Gen. Tommy R. Franks planted his boots on Iraqi sand today for the first time since the war began, visiting British and U.S. ground forces. He spent roughly seven hours in the country.
• IRAQ WRAP UPDATE VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Explosions continued to rock Baghdad, after U-S coalition troops pushed into the Iraqi capital and captured a key presidential palace. President Bush, meanwhile, has arrived in Belfast for talks British Prime Minister Tony Blair
• IRAQ / BRIEFING / CAUTION VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- U-S Central Command says the latest armored incursion into downtown Baghdad by U-S forces shows that the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein does not control all of the city. But senior officers warn that the regime's military capability has not yet been destroyed.
• IRAQ / SAHAF CLAIMS VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Iraq's Minister of Information Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has been a daily presence on television screens around the world, denying coalition claims of advances, and claiming Iraqi successes, even when pictures and journalists on-scene reports clearly showed he was wrong.
• IRAQ / AID VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- The head of the U-S Disaster Assistance Response Team, known as DART, says the expected humanitarian crisis has not materialized from the war in Iraq. Instead, relief operations are targeting specific areas of need.
• IRAQ BRIEFING VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- U-S forces have occupied Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace compound in the center of Baghdad as military operations expand across the country
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Britain says it has captured the Iraqi city of Basra and will not leave until hostilities end.
• PENTAGON / RUMSFELD VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says Saddam Hussein has lost control of much of Iraq and the leaders of his regime are increasingly isolated.
• Iraqi Regime: 'Systematic Disregard for the Law of War' AFPS 07 Apr 2003 -- Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime is disobeying long-established rules for military conduct during wartime, senior DoD officials asserted here today.
• Possible Chemical Site Found, Rumsfeld Details Progress AFPS 07 Apr 2003 -- Embedded media are reporting that U.S. soldiers have found Iraqi chemical agents, but Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he will wait for more information before making a statement.
• 'Quiet Vigil' Protects Tarawa Shipmates in Arabian Gulf Navy NewStand 07 Apr 2003 -- Their days are hard and long, the tedium can be mind numbing at times, but their work could mean the difference between life and death in the Arabian Gulf for the Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tarawa (LHA 1).
• USS Saipan Supports Marines Ashore Operationally and Emotionally Navy NewStand 07 Apr 2003 -- After the initial growing pains subsided, Sailors and Marines aboard USS Saipan (LHA 2) formed close bonds in the two months between leaving Norfolk, Va., and the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• 101st soldiers find chemical compound in Iraq Army News 07 Apr 2003 -- One group of soldiers finally discovered a way to earn showers in the Iraqi desert: identify the presence of a chemical weapon and go to Mission Oriented Protective Posture level four.
• Iraqi exiles prove value in fighting Army News 07 Apr 2003 -- The requests are pouring into the forward office of Task Force Warrior in Kuwait.
• SOLDIERS KILLED, WOUNDED IN ENEMY ROCKET ATTACK CENTCOM 07 Apr 2003 -- Two soldiers and two civilian news media were killed and 15 soldiers injured in an enemy rocket attack south of Baghdad today (April 7).
• U.S. Forces Enter Presidential Palace; 'Chemical Ali' Reported Dead RFE/L 07 Apr 2003 -- U.S. troops moved deep into central Baghdad today, and said they entered Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace.
• U.S. Troops Storm Baghdad RFE/L 07 Apr 2003 -- U.S. troops are in the heart of Baghdad this morning, where they say they have secured two of the palaces belonging to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on the west bank of the Tigris River.
• Coalition Troops Storm Baghdad, March Into Basra RFE/L 07 Apr 2003 -- U.S. troops are in the heart of Baghdad today, where they raided Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's main palace compound and other key sites. In the south, British troops say they marched unopposed into the center of Iraq's second city, Basra.
• U.S. Units Take Iraqi Presidential Palace AFPS 07 Apr 2003 -- Units of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division took the Presidential Palace in downtown Baghdad, demonstrating to the world that coalition forces can move at will, U.S. Central Command officials said today.
• IRAQ / U-S / BAGHDAD VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Despite numerous independent reports that coalition forces entered downtown Baghdad Monday and occupied a main presidential palace, Iraq's information minister says these reports are lies and claims Iraqi troops have surrounded and slaughtered coalition forces.
• IRAQ / ALI VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Reports from southern Iraq say the body of a senior Iraqi commander has been found in the Basra.
• IRAQ / U-S COMMANDERS VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- The U-S military in the Gulf says its commanders in Baghdad will decide whether their units should stay in captured areas of the Iraqi capital.
• IRAQ WRAP VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- Coalition troops in Iraq have pushed into the center of Baghdad -- capturing a key presidential palace in a daylight raid that came amid reports of fierce firefights in some areas. President Bush, meanwhile, is heading to Northern Ireland for talks on Iraq with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
• IRAQ / WRAP OVERNIGHTER VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- U-S tanks have smashed into Saddam Hussein's main presidential palace and occupied the compound in the center of Baghdad. In southern Iraq, British troops now say they control most of Basra, the country's second largest city.
• Pilots work to eliminate collateral damage AFPN 07 Apr 2003 -- Pilots who specialize in close-air-support missions do "exhaustive work" to prevent hitting the wrong targets, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot told reporters April 7.

Deployments

• Soldiers guard MSC's fleet Military Sealift Command 07 Apr 2003 -- More than 1,300 Army reservists have been activated to provide force protection and security aboard Military Sealift Command ships sailing to and from Southwest Asia.
• Nimitz Carrier Strike Group Joins Others Deployed to 5th Fleet Navy NewStand 07 Apr 2003 -- The USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Group recently entered the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility, making it the fourth carrier strike group in the region deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• ONW fighters say final goodbye to Incirlik AFPN 07 Apr 2003 -- The last Operation Northern Watch mission flew March 17, but the end of the operation was not obvious until the last fighter aircraft roared out of here April 7.

US Policy

• Transcript: Briefing on Geneva Convention, EPW's and War Crimes 07 Apr 2003 -- This is the first in a series of our briefings on issues that are related to the U.S. military's treatment of enemy prisoners of war.

• White House Press Briefing with Secretary Powell and Ari Fleischer White House 07 Apr 2003
• BUSH / BLAIR OVERNIGHT VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- President Bush is in Northern Ireland where he will meet Tuesday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss how to administer Iraq once the fighting is finished. They will also discuss efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland and the Middle East.
• BUSH / BLAIR VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- President Bush is in Northern Ireland where he is meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss how to run Iraq, once the fighting is finished. They are expected to announce plans for an interim authority in Baghdad.
• U.S. Wants to Exit Iraq "As Soon As Possible," Armitage Says Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Following is the transcript of the interview of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage with Paula Zahn on CNN's American Morning April 7
• Powell Says U.S. Wants Iraq Interim Authority in Place Quickly Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United States will be sending a group to Iraq to begin the process of bringing together a new interim authority "as fast as we can and as rapidly as they are able to use that authority."
• Iraqis Who Commit War Crimes Will Be Prosecuted, Parks Says Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- A top U.S. military legal expert says coalition forces are granting captured Iraqi soldiers all the protections called for by the Geneva Conventions and other relevant laws, but those Iraqis found to have committed war crimes will face prosecution.
• Armitage: New Iraqi Government Will Be "of, for, and by Iraqis" Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Following is the transcript of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Ralitsa Vasiliva of CNNI April 7
• Armitage Foresees "Good Future" for Iraq Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he believed there will be "a good future for Iraq," with the establishment of a government representing all of its ethnic and religious communities.
• Iraq's Recovery Is Subject of Bush, Blair Meeting Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Iraq's recovery from decades of repression under Saddam Hussein will be the focus of meetings April 7-8 in Belfast between President George Bush and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, the State Department says.
• "Winning the Peace" by Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Chuck Hagel Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- "The war in Iraq is still on, but it's not too early to think about what the United States should do to win the peace that will follow. There may be difficult days ahead, but we are confident in the rightness of our cause, the skill of our soldiers and the certainty of our victory."
• PENTAGON / WAR CRIMES VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- As coalition forces squeeze Baghdad, U-S officials are planning for Iraq's post-war future, including war crimes trials for Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi leaders. Top U-S legal officials enumerated some of the initial allegations that could form the basis for future war crimes charges, and said coalition forces have been instructed to gather and protect potential evidence.
• POSTWAR IRAQ VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- As fighting continues across the battlefield, debate continues on the structure and government of postwar Iraq. The item was high on the agenda of a meeting between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and is the focus of a trip to Europe this week by the U-N Secretary General.
• EDITORIAL: IRAQI DEATH SQUADS VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- As coalition forces move closer to victory in Iraq, vicious death squads are trying to prevent the Iraqi military from surrendering and keeping Iraqi civilians from welcoming liberation.
• U.S. Prepares For Postwar Administration RFE/L 07 Apr 2003 -- As allied forces have been tightening their grip on Baghdad, U.S. officials in Washington are discussing their ideas for the administration of Iraq once the fighting stops.
• BLAIR / BUSH VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair meet in Northern Ireland (later today) for talks on the Iraq conflict, the Middle East, and the Northern Ireland peace process.

United Nations

• U.N. Secretary General Names Special Adviser on Post-Conflict Iraq Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Calling the 15-member Security Council to his private offices for a meeting on Iraq, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan April 7 announced the appointment of a special adviser to work on the role of the United Nations in a post-conflict Iraq.
• ANNAN/ IRAQ VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan has begun a series of meetings with Security Council members to discuss the role of the United Nations in Iraq's future. He held a 90-minute private meeting (Monday) with the Security Council in New York.
• UN / IRAQ / FOOD VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- The head of the United Nations World Food Program, James Morris, says that food supplies in Iraq are adequate for at least the next month.
• Annan sees important UN role in post-conflict Iraq, names special adviser UN News Centre 07 Apr 2003 -- Saying he expected the United Nations to play an important role in post-conflict Iraq to bring "necessary legitimacy," with Iraqis controlling their own political future, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named a special adviser to draw up a framework for UN involvement and also prepared to visit key players in the crisis.
• UN aid agencies paint grim picture of massive relief tasks in Iraq UN News Centre 07 Apr 2003 -- Painting a grim picture of hardship and horror, United Nations relief agencies today underscored the massive humanitarian tasks awaiting them in war-shattered Iraq.

Foreign Reactions

• Troop dispatch to Iraqi war protested in S. Korea KCNA 07 Apr 2003 -- Members of 24 civic and social organizations including the Citizens Federation for Economic Justice and the Movement of Koreans for Helping Each Other reportedly held a rally in Seoul on April 1 in protest against the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the authorities' measure for troop dispatch to the war.
• JORDAN/FALLOUT VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- As the war in Iraq continues, Jordanians are increasingly concerned about its impact on their economy and politics. Jordan has joined Arab attempts to resolve the crisis peacefully, but no clear plan emerged from their efforts.
• U-S / RUSSIA / IRAQ VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has held what she called "very good" talks with Russian foreign and defense officials in Moscow. The talks are aimed at repairing ties strained by the U-S-led war against Iraq.
• CHINA KUWAIT IRAQ VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- As U-S and British leaders get ready to discuss how to govern post-war Iraq, a top Kuwaiti official says the sooner the Iraqi people govern themselves, the fewer problems there will be. The comments come from a Kuwaiti Minister speaking in Beijing.
• Statement of fm spokesman blasts UNSC's discussion of Korean nuclear issue KCNA 05 Apr 2003 -- The Iraqi war shows that to allow disarming through inspection does not help avert a war but rather sparks it.

News Reports

• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 6, Number 16 07 Apr 2003 -- COALITION FORCES ENTER BAGHDAD, PREPARED TO STAY? / IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER CONTINUES TO DENY LARGE INCURSION / 'CHEMICAL ALI' FOUND DEAD / 'FRIENDLY FIRE' INCIDENT IN NORTHERN IRAQ / IRAQI PRESIDENT ISSUES STATEMENTS / IRAQI MINISTER WARNS OF RUMORS, TACTICS / IRAQI MINISTER CLAIMS IT DROVE COALITION FROM AIRPORT... / ...ASSERTING IRAQ WILL ACHIEVE VICTORY / PUK SAYS IRAQI DESERTIONS CONTINUE / REPORT: SENIOR REGIME OFFICIALS THREATENING MEMBERS WITH DEATH... / ...AND BAGHDAD REGIME'S 'SECURITY' PREVENTS DEFECTIONS / CENTCOM CHARGES IRAQI REGIME PUTTING CIVILIANS IN DANGER / IRAQ ACCUSES COALITION OF DROPPING BOOBY-TRAPPED PENCILS / IRAQI PRESIDENT REPORTEDLY CHAIRS MEETING / IRAQI PRESIDENT RALLIES AL-NASIRIYAH FORCES, WARNS AGAINST INSUBORDINATION / IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT CALLS SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER 'A PETTY AGENT.' / IRAQI GENERAL REPORTS ON CONFLICT / IRAQ CHARGES COALITION WITH BOMBING HISTORICAL, RELIGIOUS SITES / IRAQI REGIME ASKS CITIZENS TO TURN IN MOBILE PHONES / IRAQI OFFICIAL DECLINES TO COMMENT ON HEALTH OF HUSSEIN'S SONS / IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER BRIEFS REPORTERS... / ...AND CLAIMS COALITION HOLDING CIVILIANS, NOT IRAQI POWS / GRAND AYATOLLAH'S OFFICE DENIES ISSUING FATWA... / ...AS CONFUSION REIGNS IN AL-NAJAF / SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS DISUNITY THREATENS ARAB LEAGUE'S EXISTENCE... / THREAT OF 'ARAB AFGHANS' REVIVED / 'VOLUNTEERS' HEADING FOR IRAQ / ARAB NEWS CHANNEL PULLS CORRESPONDENTS FROM IRAQ / UNMOVIC CHIEF SAYS IRAQIS MAY HELP UNCOVER WMD / ANNAN RECOMMENDS UNIKOM RETURNS AFTER WAR / U.S., TURKEY AGREE ON TRANSPORTS, POSTWAR COOPERATION / U.S. TO HOST ROUNDTABLE OF IRAQI LEADERS / U.S. RANGERS RESCUE PRISONER OF WAR IN IRAQ / RIGHTS GROUP ACCUSES IRAQ OF HIDING LAND MINES IN MOSQUE
• Human Rights Watch Monitors Conflict in Iraq Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- On April 7, the Washington File spoke with Tom Malinowski, Washington Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), about U.S. and Iraqi responsibilities outlined by the Geneva Conventions and what role outside organizations can play in upholding the fundamental standards to protect civilians and prisoners during military conflict.
• Graduate of Saddam University Talks about Defection, Life in the U.S. Washington File 07 Apr 2003 -- Omar Muhammad, a graduate of the elite Saddam University in Baghdad, fled his country in the 1990's as did many other highly educated Iraqis in the "brain drain" that has afflicted Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein.
• Studying News Coverage of the Iraq War VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- For thousands of university students in the Washington, D. C. area, the attraction of studying here is now tinged with the stress and excitement- of studying in the nation's capital of a country at war. In student union corridors and cafeterias, and in dorm rooms, there is continual debate about supporting or criticizing the United States' war with Iraq.
• Media Coverage of Iraq War VOA 07 Apr 2003 -- As in other wars, there have been journalists killed along with soldiers and civilians in Iraq. This war, though, marks a test of a new American military program to place reporters with troops. They are called embedded. There are hundreds of journalists traveling with American and British troops in Iraq.
• TURKEY: Red Crescent scales down border operation IRIN 07 Apr 2003 -- As the perceived threat of massive refugee arrivals begins to subside, the Turkish Red Crescent has scaled down the number of staff members it deploys along the Turkish-Iraqi border.
• IRAQ: Water by far the most urgent need IRIN 07 Apr 2003 -- As spring temperatures begin to soar, a serious lack of clean drinking water has been described by aid agencies as the biggest problem facing the war-stricken people of southern Iraq. "In one word I would say that the situation is extremely critical, everywhere," Robert Mardini, the water and habitat regional coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told IRIN from Geneva on Monday.