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Current Operations

• IRAQI TOP 55 CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003

• TRANSCRIPT OF 4/12 CENTCOM BRIEFING CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- "The regime is in disarray and no longer in control of Iraq, and the coalition remains focused on the objectives of the campaign. The attainment of objectives to date has not come without cost, and as always, we pause to remember those who have lost their lives, and we extend our condolences to their families. The operations of the last 24 hours have been characterized by simultaneous actions in all parts of the country. Some focused on removing any remaining chance of the regime returning to power while others focused on setting the conditions for a stable and free Iraq."
• Transcript: Media Briefing: Australia's contribution to global operations Australian Department of Defence 12 Apr 2003 -- "I've decided to participate in today's press briefing to announce the start of an operation which will be conducted within Operation Falconer. Operation Falconer being Australia's participation in Coalition operations in Iraq. This new operation is 'Operation Baghdad Assist'."
• Transcript: Vice Adm Timothy Keating Briefing via Satellite-Teleconference from Bahrain 12 Apr 2003 -- "Since the 20 of March, aircraft flying from our carriers have flown over 7,000 sorties -- 7,000 sorties in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as part of the air component command power projection mission. Maritime patrol aircraft, our big-wing P-3s principally, have provided valuable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance of the battlefield forward into Iraq and over Baghdad as we speak in support of ground and sea assets. Vast sea-lift ships brought in equipment that support the ground forces and also our planes - and our jets are providing close air support for the marines and the soldiers who are all throughout Baghdad this morning."

• U.S., Coalition Find "Wholesale Capitulation" in Northern Iraq Washington File 12 Apr 2003 -- U.S. and coalition forces have seen "wholesale capitulation" in northern Iraq in their 23rd day of combat operations, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
• PREVIOUSLY MISSING MARINES RECLASSIFIED AS KILLED IN ACTION CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- Three Marines previously declared "Duty Status -Whereabouts Unknown," have been reclassified as killed in action as a result of combat operations that occurred March 23 in the vicinity of An Nasiriyah, Iraq.
• IRAQ/WRAP VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- Another U-S Army division is moving into Iraq from Kuwait as U-S led forces work to restore order to Baghdad and other areas beset by looting.
• 1st humanitarian flight arrives at Baghdad airport AFPN 12 Apr 2003 -- Although combat continues in a number of areas in Iraq, coalition efforts to increase humanitarian assistance are becoming more important, according to U.S. Central Command officials.
• Deck of Cards Helps Troops Identify Regime's Most Wanted AFPS 12 Apr 2003 -- Coalition forces in Iraq are using a specially created deck of 55 playing cards to identify the "most wanted" members of Saddam Hussein's regime.
• U.S. MARINE KILLED IN CHECKPOINT INCIDENT CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- A U.S. Marine from the First Marine Expeditionary Force was shot and killed here on Saturday by a individual carrying a Syrian identification card.
• U.S. MARINES DISCOVER CACHE OF SUICIDE-BOMBER VESTS CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- .S. Marines discovered 310 suicide-bomber vests at an unspecified location in Baghdad on Friday.
• INITIAL RELEASE: AMIR HAMUDI HASAN AL-SADI SURRENDERS TO COALITION FORCES IN BAGHDAD CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- The regime's Presidential Scientific Advisor, Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi, surrendered to Coalition forces in Baghdad today.
• OPERATION BAGHDAD ASSIST Australian Department of Defence 12 Apr 2003 -- The Government has decided to launch Operation Baghdad Assist to provide medical supplies to the Iraqi capital, Defence Minister Robert Hill said today.
• JTFE connects 15th MEU (SOC) to the world USMC News 12 Apr 2003 -- Standing in the middle of the of an old Iraqi Army training camp here, Marines and Sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) communicate through today's newest technology to keep them in touch with other Marines on the battlefield and with their family back home.
• Bashur airmen toughing it out AFPN 12 Apr 2003 -- If they did not know before, the more than 200 airmen who run Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq now know what it is like living in austere conditions.
• B-52 LITENING POD USED IN COMBAT FOR FIRST TIME CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- For the first time in combat history, a B-52 Stratofortress used a LITENING Advanced Airborne Targeting and Navigation Pod to target facilities at an airfield in northern Iraq at approximately 5:45 a.m. EST April 11.
• U.S. MARINES RECOVER JOURNALISTS CENTCOM 12 Apr 2003 -- U.S. Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force recovered four journalists from the Ibn Al Nafees Hospital in Baghdad yesterday.
• BRITAIN / BASRA VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- The British military is working to revive police services in Iraq's second biggest city, Basra, following a breakdown in law and order after the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
• IRAQ / WRAP VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- Another U-S Army division is moving into Iraq from Kuwait, 23 days after coalition forces began the war to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Military attention is now focusing on the former Iraqi leader's home city of Tikrit.
• IRAQ / U-S BRIEFING VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- U-S forces have taken control of more of Baghdad, after routing pockets of resistance in the city. But the advance of troops has brought looting to the new areas.
• BAGHDAD/LOOTING VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- There has been no let up in the looting and violence in Baghdad.
• IRAQ / U-S BRIEFING / TIKRIT VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- A U-S military spokesman says the fall of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown and the probable scene of a last stand by his forces, will not necessarily mean the end of the war in Iraq. The U-S military says it still has to root out pro-Saddam forces in other areas of the country.
• BUSH/IRAQ VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- President Bush says Saddam Hussein has lost power in Iraq, and U-S troops are moving to fill the void by providing security, food, and medicine. But looting continues in Baghdad and several other areas.
• Combat Ops Continue in Iraq, Humanitarian Aid Pours In AFPS 12 Apr 2003 -- U.S. and coalition troops are searching out and eliminating pockets of Saddam-regime diehards, while providing much needed humanitarian relief to the Iraqi people.
• U.S. Military Convoy Heads Into Mosul RFE/L 12 Apr 2003 -- A U.S. military convoy headed into the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today, one day after falling to U.S. and Kurdish troops without a fight.
• Looters Steal Ancient Treasures From National Museum In Baghdad RFE/L 12 Apr 2003 -- Looters have ransacked the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, taking art and artifacts dating back thousands of years.
• IRAQ WRAP / OVERNIGHTER VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- Widespread looting and lawlessness continue in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, with some citizens taking up arms to defend their property and coalition forces treading gingerly to maintain a semblance of order. With the fall of the key northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, the focus of coalition military efforts now turns to Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town and, probably, the scene of his regime's last stand.

Deployments

• Navy May Reduce Gulf Carrier Presence As Iraqi Freedom Winds Down AFPS 12 Apr 2003 -- The U.S. Navy may reduce the number of aircraft carriers deployed in the Gulf region if Operation Iraqi Freedom air strike requirements draw down, the commander of coalition naval forces said today.
• Donated Flea Collars Don't Help Deployed Troops Navy NewStand 12 Apr 2003 -- Donations from home are a welcome sight to deployed troops, but some donated items may cause more harm than good.

US Policy

• Bush Relays Stories of Oppression, Compassion and Respect AFPS 12 Apr 2003 -- Two worlds collided in Baghdad this week. Coalition forces and Western journalists were shocked by emerging evidence of Saddam Hussein's tyranny and inhumanity, and the long-oppressed Iraqi people experienced the compassion and respect of coalition troops.
• U.S. Will Help Establish Democratic Iraq, Then Leave, Powell Says Washington File 12 Apr 2003 -- The United States and its coalition partners want to provide security and stability in Iraq, help Iraqis come together to create a new democratic government --- and then leave, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview with Metro TV in Indonesia on April 10.
• Powell Optimistic That Iraq Can Build on Existing Institutions Washington File 12 Apr 2003 -- Iraq must be purged of Saddam Hussein's cronies and Ba'ath Party leaders, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on April 11. "But this is a country with bureaucracies, with institutions that I think we can build on. It's not just starting from scratch," Powell stated in an interview with Tom Brokaw of NBC News.
• Bush Says Terror Regime, Statues of Saddam Hussein Falling Away Washington File 12 Apr 2003 -- The terror regime of Saddam Hussein, like his statues, are falling away, and millions of Iraqis feel as though their country is finally being returned to them, President George Bush said in his weekly radio address to the nation on April 12.
• CONGRESS/IRAQ FUNDING VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- Congress passed a wartime spending bill of nearly 80-billion dollars Saturday. The package combats terrorism, shores up defenses at home and provides new aid to airlines. President Bush is expected to sign it into law quickly.

United Nations

• Despite insecure conditions, UN to dispatch international relief staff to Iraq UN News Centre 12 Apr 2003 -- Despite the dangers in Iraq posed by widespread looting and instability, the United Nations plans to send international aid workers into the country early next week, a senior UN official reported today.

Foreign Reactions

• RUSSIA / EURO / IRAQ VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- The leaders of Russia, France and Germany have completed a two-day summit in Saint Petersburg (Saturday), where they emphasized that the United Nations should have the lead role in Iraq's post-war reconstruction.
• BRITAIN / DEMO VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- Thousands of demonstrators marched in London Saturday to condemn the war in Iraq. But the turnout was a dramatic decline from the estimated one-million protesters who marched in the British capital just eight weeks ago.

News Reports

• GROUP OF SEVEN ENDS VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- Economic policymakers from the world's principal industrial countries agreed Saturday that there should be a multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq, with a large U-N role. Protesters turned out in much smaller numbers than they have at previous I-M-F meetings
• Transcript: G-7 Finance Ministers Urge World Bank/IMF Involvement in Iraq Washington File 12 Apr 2003 -- Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 7 (G-7) industrialized nations April 12 agreed that the international financial institutions should conduct a preliminary needs assessment of Iraq and provide the country with technical assistance as soon as possible, says U. S. Treasury Secretary John Snow.
• GROUP OF SEVEN VOA 12 Apr 2003 -- In Washington Saturday, the world's top economic policymakers are meeting to discuss the sluggish pace of world growth and the reconstruction of Iraq.