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

Current Operations

• Top Biological Weapons Scientist Reported Captured RFE/L 05 May 2003 -- U.S. defense officials are quoted as saying American forces have taken into custody another of the most-wanted Iraqis, this one a scientist believed to be knowledgeable about weapons programs under ousted President Saddam Hussein's government.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ VOA 05 May 2003 -- Coalition forces have taken into custody another of Iraq's most wanted, this time a woman believed to be knowledgeable about Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction programs.
• Despite Hazards, American Forces Making Progress in Iraq AFPS 05 May 2003 -- Despite a dangerous situation on the ground, American forces are overseeing tremendous humanitarian progress in Iraq.
• Defusing Saddam's Leftover Legacy AFPS 05 May 2003 -- It was a bizarre scene: hundreds of Iraqi civilians walking blithely past a park chock full of artillery, mortar and tank rounds.
• Tankers Learn Lessons of Peacekeeping AFPS 05 May 2003 -- "If someone is running away from the gas station, don't shoot," Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Lujan told his men. "Remember, this is peacekeeping. We're not in combat."
• Joint U.S., Iraqi effort facilitates local school reopening Army News 05 May 2003 -- Soldiers from Fort Benning, Ga., will make it safe for 3,500 to 4,000 undergraduate students to return to classes at Baghdad University's College of Agriculture's scheduled to open May 15. Graduate students returned to class May 3.
• Framework for Mosul's interim government set Army News 05 May 2003 -- Mosul is setting up its first democratic government in decades after the commander of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) brokered the first few meetings with local officials.
• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY CENTCOM 05 May 2003 -- Coalition forces continue to assist in developing a safe and secure environment in Iraq. Among recent developments
• COALITION FORCES CONTINUE HA DESPITE DISRUPTIONS CENTCOM 05 May 2003 -- Coalition forces continue to focus military operations on conducting security patrols, humanitarian assistance missions, facility assessments and securing sensitive sites in key Iraqi cities.
• In the Gulf, the Mission Continues Navy NewStand 05 May 2003 -- As a new day dawned in the Arabian Gulf May 2, there was a sense of guarded optimism for Sailors and Marines here about President Bush's recent nationally televised speech to the nation from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).
• May 5th Pool Report Number One CENTCOM 05 May 2003
• MAY 5TH POOL REPORT NUMBER TWO CENTCOM 05 May 2003
• MAY 5TH POOL REPORT NUMBERS THREE AND FOUR CENTCOM 05 May 2003
• MAY 5TH REUTERS POOL REPORTS ONE AND TWO CENTCOM 05 May 2003
• MAY 5TH ASSOCIATED PRESS POOL REPORT NUMBER FIVE CENTCOM 05 May 2003
• MAY 5TH ASSOCIATED PRESS POOL REPORT NUMBER SIX CENTCOM 05 May 2003
• Coalition Forces Continue HA Despite Disruptions ARCENT CJTF-7 05 May 2003
• Coalition Efforts Aid Iraq's Recovery ARCENT CJTF-7 05 May 2003

Deployments

• Travis welcomes home KC-10 crews, maintainers AMCNS 03 May 2003 -- Travis AFB has welcomed home more than 100 people deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Aircrews, maintainers and support personnel returned April 29 aboard five KC-10 aircraft to families, friends and co-workers who eagerly awaited their arrival.
• Spandahlem jets return home USAFE 05 May 2003 -- When 24 F-16CJ aircraft touched down in waves on Spangdahlem Air Base's runway 23R, even the casual observer realized there was something special in the air; for what distinguished these landings from others is simple: these pilots have just returned from war.

US Policy

• Will U.S. Victory In Iraq Persuade 'Rogue Regimes' To Change Their Behavior? RFE/L 05 May 2003 -- U.S. President George W. Bush recently declared victory in Iraq. Will America's overwhelming display of military might and resolve in Iraq now pressure other "rogue regimes" to change their ways in order not to be Washington's next target?
• EDITORIAL: COMBAT OPERATIONS END IN IRAQ VOA 05 May 2003 -- Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. Now, said President George W. Bush, the U.S.-led coalition "is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country"

United Nations

• UN expands international relief presence in Baghdad UN News Centre 05 May 2003 -- United Nations relief agencies continued to expand their international operations in Iraq today, five days after returning from a war-imposed absence of six weeks, regaining the use of some offices, confronting the destruction of others, and ready to collaborate with American authorities to prevent duplication of humanitarian efforts.
• IAEA wants to send team to Iraq to probe reported looting of nuclear facilities UN News Centre 05 May 2003 -- Voicing concern over reports that there had been looting at Iraq's nuclear facilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has asked the United States to confirm the situation and allow an IAEA team to investigate.
• IRAQ: UN humanitarian staff establish base in Basra IRIN 05 May 2003 -- The United Nations established over the weekend a permanent presence of humanitarian staff in war-ravaged Basra, Iraq's second-largest city. Staff from UNOHCI, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) moved from Kuwait to Basra to set up offices and living accommodation in the city.

Reconstruction Issues

• Multi-Party Iraqi Interim Authority to Begin Work in May Washington File 05 May 2003 -- Following is a news release May 5 from the U.S. military's central command about the imminent formation of the core of an Iraqi interim government
• Reported Shift On Iraq Administrator May Indicate Powell Influence RFE/L 05 May 2003 -- Some critics of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush say the Defense Department, under Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is taking over too many of the functions normally reserved for the State Department. Now it appears that a civilian -- a career diplomat in the State Department -- will be put in charge of administering Iraq, with seniority over even Jay Garner, the retired general who is now in charge. Some say that may be a sign that the Secretary of State Colin Powell is reasserting his influence
• NY / IRAQI ART VOA 05 May 2003 -- Curators from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and London's British Museum say the war-time looting from the Baghdad Museum was a disaster for Iraq's cultural heritage.
• U-S NATION BUILDING EFFORTS VOA 05 May 2003 -- As the United States turns toward reconstruction of Iraq, the challenges are enormous. Thirty years of Saddam Hussein's brutal rule have destroyed the strong government and civil institutions that once stood. More than a decade of economic sanctions has left Iraq's economy in ruins. Corruption and cynicism are the norm and ethnic tensions run deep. Will the United States succeed in transforming Iraq into a democratic, pluralistic nation?
• IRAQ VOA 05 May 2003 -- The U-S official in charge of helping reconstruct Iraq has announced that a team of nine Iraqi political leaders will soon run an interim administration in the country. And 59 Iraqi prisoners of war returned from Iran after more than two decades in prison there.
• Garner Says Interim Leadership In Place By Mid-May RFE/L 05 May 2003 -- The U.S. civil administrator of Iraq, Jay Garner, said today that a collective interim leadership should be set up in Iraq by the middle of May.

Foreign Reactions

• NATO to Deploy Force in Afghanistan, Considering Iraq Role Washington File 05 May 2003 -- The NATO allies have accepted responsibility for the next deployment of the International Security Force for Afghanistan [ISAF] and are also considering a potential role in Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said.
• Poland Announces Creation Of Mostly European Stability Force RFE/L 05 May 2003 -- Poland has announced that a coalition of 10 mostly European nations is preparing to send troops to Iraq as part of a stabilization force by the end of this month. Warsaw also said it will share leadership of the force with the United States and Britain
• Germany rules out military engagement in Iraq for now IRNA 05 May 2003 -- A German government spokesman here Monday rule out any current plans for a military engagement in Iraq.

News Reports