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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
United Nations
Reconstruction Issues
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• TRANSCRIPT OF 4/18 CENTCOM BRIEFING CENTCOM 18 Apr 2003 -- "Coalition forces are interdicting free movement by regime members or paramilitary elements. Special operations forces continued their efforts to stabilize northern Iraq and western Iraq, while also conducting direct-action missions when appropriate. Last night, coalition special operations forces captured another key member of the regime. Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, one of the top-55 leaders of the regime, was handed over to coalition forces by Iraqi Kurds near Mosul in northern Iraq. He was a Ba'ath Party official, a regional command chairman for the Baghdad district, and is believed to have first-hand knowledge of the Ba'ath Party central structure. The coalition is pursuing other regime leaders."

• Justice Department Helps Coalition Intel Effort AFPS 18 Apr 2003 -- The U.S. Justice Department worked aggressively to both develop intelligence that the coalition against Saddam Hussein could use and to protect the United States from terrorist attack, said Attorney General John Ashcroft April 17.

• IRAQ/WRAP VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- U-S military officials say they have captured another member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle. Meanwhile, Shiite Muslims in Iraq were busy Friday celebrating their new-found religious freedom.
• IRAQ/BRIEFING VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Another senior member of the ousted Saddam Hussein regime is now in coalition hands. Baath Party official Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, who is on the U-S list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, was turned over to American troops by Kurdish forces in northern Iraq.
• IRAQ/CAPTURE VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- U-S military officials say they have captured another former member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle in Iraq.
• PENTAGON/IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Even as coalition forces work to capture Iraq's most-wanted regime figures, other Iraqi battlefield detainees are now being released.
• U.S. war leader visits airmen AFPN 18 Apr 2003 -- The leader of U.S. Central Command stopped April 18 at a forward-deployed bomber location to show his appreciation for the job the airmen here have done.
• Coalition Releases Iraqi Noncombatants AFPS 18 Apr 2003 -- Coalition forces have released 887 Iraqi prisoners being held in the Theater Internment Facility near Umm Qasr.
• U.S. Airfield Troops Sustain Ops, Assist Iraqi Populace AFPS 18 Apr 2003 -- U.S. Army and Air Force troops at an airfield in southern Iraq are providing military air and logistical support -- and much-needed medical and other assistance to local Iraqis.
• U.S. Says Senior Ba'ath Party Official Captured By Coalition Forces RFE/L 18 Apr 2003 -- The U.S. military today said coalition forces have captured the fourth Iraqi official on the U.S. list of 55 wanted Iraqis.
• Another Regime Leader Captured; Coalition Forces Transition AFPS 18 Apr 2003 -- Iraqi Kurds handed over the Ba'ath Party regional command chairman for East Baghdad to coalition special operations forces yesterday, U.S. Central Command officials said this morning.
• 24th MEU (SOC)'s MSSG-24 improves roads for an Iraqi town USMC News 18 Apr 2003 -- Marines of MEU Service Support Group 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), with the aid of Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ., brought a Tractor Rubber-tired Articulated-steering Multi-purpose (TRAM) out to the small town of Al Rifa, Iraq to plow down berms blocking roadways and to fill fighting positions at the roadsides. This was a clear indication that combat operations in the sector were drawing to a close.
• JTFE provides communication and morale in Iraq USMC News 18 Apr 2003 -- "I hope you guys aren't leaving anytime soon," said Cpl. Maurice Yazzie, heavy equipment operator, from Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 371, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Az., who had just made a phone call home using the morale phone line from Camp Fenway - the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) command base in Iraq.
• Coalition Captures Key Ba'ath Party Leader Near Mosul Washington File 18 Apr 2003 -- Coalition Special Operations forces captured Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, a key member of the now defunct regime of Saddam Hussein, near Mosul in northern Iraq April 17, says a U.S. Central Command briefing officer.
• Iraqi general surrenders to coalition forces Army News 18 Apr 2003 -- United States and coalition forces accepted the surrender of the first enemy general in Operation Iraqi Freedom when the commander of all armed forces in the western district of Iraq capitulated in Ar Ramedi April 15.
• U.S. Releases 887 Iraqi Prisoners Washington File 18 Apr 2003 -- The U.S. military released 887 Iraqi prisoners from an internment facility in the southern Iraq city of Umm Qasr just one month after the start of "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
• U.S. Navy Enlists the Help of Marine Mammals to Secure Iraqi Ports Washington File 18 Apr 2003 -- The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program is making a splash in the Persian Gulf with a unit of dolphins and their handlers who have taken to the waters off the coast of Iraq. Their mission: to clear ports of killer mines.
• 15th MEU (SOC) Marines 'withdraw' 14 million Iraqi dinar at Nasiriyah bank USMC News 18 Apr 2003 -- Marines in the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) recently secured stacks of Iraqi currency from two bank vaults to protect the people of a small neighborhood here.
• Desert Sands & Moving Parts DefendAmerica.mil 18 Apr 2003 -- Chinook tail number 211 hasn't even been to Iraq yet, and already it's seen better days.
• Predator is headache for enemy AFPN 18 Apr 2003 -- One of the most formidable aircraft in the Operation Iraqi Freedom arsenal does not even carry a pilot. Appearing almost toy-like at a mere 27 feet long, the RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle that remains a huge headache for enemy forces.

Deployments

• St. Pete Army Reservists Guard Captured Iraqi Airbase DefendAmerica.mil 18 Apr 2003 -- Less than three weeks ago, this small airfield was the site of a thundering tank and artillery battle between Iraqi loyalists and the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division forces, which was determined to grab what was one of the coalition's first strategic objectives of the war.
• New York Reservists guard Iraqi prisoners Army News 18 Apr 2003 -- Only at a prisoner-of-war camp run by Americans would the soldiers in charge have to turn potential prisoners away.
• Nighthawks return home ACCNS 18 Apr 2003 -- Five F-117 Nighthawks touched down here April 16 after supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
• Marines Fuel Coalition Forces USMC News 18 Apr 2003 -- A historic effort by Marine bulk fuelers here kept the coalition's "shock and awe" campaign from turning into "sputter and stall." Military planners tasked 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, with fueling coalition forces surging forward during the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Deployed as a whole for the first time, the reserve bulk liquids-designated battalion assembled a 60-mile-long expeditionary fuel line six times longer than any other fuel line ever attempted in Marine Corps history.
• "You've Got Mail" in the middle of nowhere USMC News 18 Apr 2003 -- The last time coalition forces fought here, "e-mail" didn't exist. Twelve years later, Marines with 6th Engineer Support Battalion are providing Internet access, a secured computer network and an array of other communication services to meet Marines needs in the middle of the desert.

US Policy

• Wolfowitz: Newly Freed Iraq Provides 'Greater Security' for U.S., World AFPS 18 Apr 2003 -- An Iraq newly freed from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein provides "a greater security for our country and for the whole world," U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said here April 17.
• EDITORIAL: TIME TO LIFT SANCTIONS ON IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- For more than a dozen years, the United Nations maintained economic sanctions on Iraq. But now that Iraq has been liberated from Saddam Hussein's tyranny, said President George W. Bush, the U-N Security Council should move quickly to lift the sanctions. This will help speed Iraq's recovery from decades of plunder by a regime that, in the words of Mr. Bush, "built palaces in a country that needed hospitals."
• EDITORIAL: RUMSFELD ON THE NEW IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Now that the Saddam Hussein regime has been routed from Iraq, the U.S.-led coalition is working to return the government of Iraq to the people of Iraq.
• EDITORIAL: IRAQI DEMOCRACY MEETING VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- For many people, the ancient city of Ur in Iraq is the place where civilization began. And on April 15th, a meeting was held near Ur to begin the process of establishing democracy in Iraq. Dozens of Iraqis representing every part of the country participated in the meeting.
• EDITORIAL: AID FLOWING TO IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- To meet the needs of the liberated people of Iraq, the United States-led coalition is mounting one of the largest humanitarian assistance programs in history. After decades of poverty and misery caused by the Saddam Hussein regime, the Iraqi people are now getting help says U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
• EDITORIAL: A DEMOCRATIC FUTURE FOR IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- On April 15th, the first in a series of meetings was held in Iraq between coalition officials and Iraqi exile groups, opposition figures, and tribal and religious leaders. The purpose of these meetings is to create an interim authority to govern Iraq until free elections can be held. As U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, the task is to map out Iraq's future -- a future free of tyranny, free of dictators, based on democracy
• Iraqis Took First Step toward Democracy at Nasiriyah, Grossman Says Washington File 18 Apr 2003 -- The gathering of Iraqis and former Iraqi exiles in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah April 15 to begin discussions on the future government marked the first step towards a democratic, multiethnic Iraq that is "without weapons of mass destruction, has territorial integrity, and is at peace with its neighbors," State Department Under Secretary for Political Affairs Marc Grossman said.

United Nations

Reconstruction Issues

• Thousands Protest U.S. 'Occupation' In Baghdad RFE/L 18 Apr 2003 -- Several thousand Iraqis marched today through Baghdad, chanting anti-American and anti-Saddam Hussein slogans.
• First Meeting to Form a New Iraqi Government VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- On Tuesday, Iraqi political and religious leaders met for the first time to discuss how to form a new government in Iraq. The talks were held near the southern city of Ur believed to be the oldest known city in civilization.
• IRAQ / CHALABI VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Iraqi opposition leader Ahmad Chalabi has arrived in Baghdad and says he is ready to help rebuild his country, but not to participate in any U-S led interim authority. Mr. Chalabi heads the Iraqi National Congress -- the I-N-C.
• IRAQ / MIDEAST POL VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Preparations are underway for the Iraqi people to determine how their new government will be organized.
• Religious Role in Peace Talks VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- The recent collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime has presented an important opportunity for peace elsewhere in the Middle East. at least according to Israel's Prime Minister. Ariel Sharon recently told members of his Likud party that he's willing to sit down with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, to negotiate a peace settlement. But at a recent forum hosted by the U-S Institute of Peace. a non-partisan research foundation created by Congress nearly twenty years ago. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish leaders warned that no peace plan will succeed if secular politicians like Mr. Sharon and Mr. Abbas are the only leaders at the table. Religious leaders say they need to be allowed to play an active role in the negotiations, if a lasting peace is ever to be established in the region.
• CSIS Panel Recommends Next Steps for Rebuilding Iraq Washington File 18 Apr 2003 -- In the rebuilding of Iraq, the establishment of a constabulary security force, the convening of an international donors' conference, and the upgrading of Iraq's oil infrastructure were among several recommended projects suggested by a panel speaking at the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
• IRAQ: Basra's pivotal issue - water IRIN 18 Apr 2003 -- "Mister, water, water." Take a walk down any street in Basra, Iraq's main southern city, and that's the chorus you will hear wherever you go. The second-largest city in Iraq with its 1.5 million residents has been struggling for a month now to receive any - even marginally - potable water, ever since water-purification and pumping stations were hit by the war and the ensuing mayhem. And as daily temperatures here rise well into the 30-degree C range, emotions are starting to boil over.

Foreign Reactions

• IRAQ / ARABS/ WAR AFTERMATH UPDATE VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Foreign ministers from countries neighboring Iraq are discussing Iraq's future, amid calls for a temporary government run by Iraqis.
• IRAQ / WAR AFTERMATH VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Foreign ministers from countries neighboring Iraq are meeting (Friday) in Saudi Arabia to discuss the consequences of the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
• NEW IRAQ AND ITS NEIGHBORS VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- The war with Iraq changes the strategic layout in the Middle East.

News Reports

• War and Economy VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- With the allied military campaign winding down in Iraq, the Bush administration is turning its attention toward stimulating the nation's economy.
• IRAQ / SHIITES VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- Tens-of-thousands of Iraq's Shiite Muslims have begun a religious pilgrimage, which for nearly three decades had been outlawed by deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
• IRAQ / FRIDAY PRAYERS VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- In the Baghdad neighborhood formerly called Saddam City, freedom on this Friday meant that tens-of-thousands of Shiite Muslims could fill the streets around their mosque for mid-day prayers; it was the first time in their memory. Under Saddam Hussein, such large gatherings were banned.
• RABIL-MIDDLE EAST VOA 18 Apr 2003 -- VOA's David Borgida speaks with Dr. Robert Rabil with the Iraq Research and Documentation Project about the current situation in the Middle East.
• IRAQ: Water convoy finally reaches the south IRIN 18 Apr 2003 -- A convoy of water that has been waiting at the Iranian border for three days has finally made it into southern Iraq. Eleven trucks carrying 5,100 jerry cans each containing 20 litres of potable water crossed the Shalamcheh border between the two countries late on Friday morning.