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

Current Operations

• American Generals: Soldiers Only Shoot in Self-Defense AFPS 14 May 2003 -- American soldiers will only shoot looters who threaten their lives, the Army general in charge of land forces in Iraq said in Baghdad today.
• 101st providing safe environment in northern Iraq Army News Service 14 May 2003-- After fighting its way across about 1,200 kilometers from where it entered Iraq two months ago, the 101st Air Assault Division (Screaming Eagles) has shifted operations to providing a safe and secure environment for Iraqis and hunting for weapons of mass destruction in northern Iraq, said 101st commanding general Gen. Dave Petraeus.
• USNS Bob Hope in Kuwait Port Near Namesake's 100th Birthday Navy Newsstand 14 May 2003-- USNS Bob Hope (T-AKR 300), a 949-foot long, 63,000 ton ship capable of carrying enough equipment, vehicles and supplies for an entire U.S. Army task force, steamed out of a Kuwaiti port May 13 after off-loading cargo for troops serving in Iraq.
• Boxer Crowned with Green Navy Newsstand 14 May 2003-- From March 18 to April 24, USS Boxer (LHD 4) assumed the Greencrown title for Commander, Task Force 51, which was in the Northern Arabian Gulf (NAG) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• V CORPS MILITARY POLICE HELPING IRAQIS RESTORE LAW AND ORDER V Corps Release 14 May 2003-- The first efforts to restore law and order to post-regime Iraq began May 9 when Iraqi police and U.S. military police soldiers under the command of V Corps' 18th Military Police Brigade conducted joint patrols in the war-torn streets here.
• AMC warriors in action over the skies of Iraq Air Mobility Command News 14 May 2003-- Travis deployed troops returned from overseas duty last week, the community here resoundingly welcomed them as heroes. Not too many in the adoring crowd truly realized the monumental deeds our men and women accomplished in support of the war effort.
• U.S. Forces Disarm Armed Iranian Opposition Fighters RFE/L 14 May 2003 -- The armed Iranian opposition group Mujahedin Khalq Organization has begun surrendering its arms to U.S. forces in Iraq. The surrender comes after American forces initially bombed, then ignored, the group, which the U.S. State Department lists as a terrorist organization.
• IRAQ / SECURITY VOA 14 May 2003 -- The commander of U-S armed forces in Iraq says he will double the number of military policemen in Baghdad to fight an ongoing crime wave. General David McKiernan spoke with reporters in the Iraqi capital Wednesday
• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY CENTCOM 14 May 2003 -- Coalition forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq.
• COALITION FORCES PROVIDE SECURITY AND STABILITY CENTCOM 14 May 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to actively patrol Iraq to make it safe to conduct Humanitarian Assistance operations.
• MARINE KILLED IN BUNKER EXPLOSION CENTCOM 14 May 2003 -- First Marine Expeditionary Force Marine died yesterday afternoon when he was trapped in a munitions bunker that caught fire and exploded.
• Iron Soldiers move to Camp Pennsylvania US Army Europe Release 14 May 2003-- At first glance, Camp Pennsylvania looks like a barren desert expanse surrounded by concertina wire with a few tents, vehicles and shipping containers inside. But a deeper look shows that there is a community inside that wire. And inside the larger community, there are several little communities.
• Coast Guard cutters "mission complete" in Arabian Gulf USCG Release 14 May 2003-- Coast Guard cutters Boutwell, a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Alameda, Calif., and Walnut, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Honolulu, began heading home today after completing their missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
• Boston cutter heads to Mediterranean USCG Release 14 May 2003-- The Boston-based Coast Guard Cutter Spencer received orders recently to deploy overseas at the request of the Department of Defense (DOD) to support Operation Enduring Freedom. This deployment is part of the Coast Guard's longstanding, annual commitment to DOD security cooperation initiatives and fosters continued interoperability between the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard.
• Coalition Forces Provide Security and Stability ARCENT CJTF-7 14 May 2003
• Coalition Efforts Aid Iraq's Recovery ARCENT CJTF-7 14 May 2003
• MARINE KILLED IN BUNKER EXPLOSION ARCENT CJTF-7 14 May 2003

Deployments

US Policy

• IRAQ/ASSETS VOA 14 May 2003 -- Bush administration officials have testified before Congress about their efforts to locate, seize and repatriate billions of dollars in assets of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The officials spoke at one of several congressional hearings to examine the aftermath of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
• EDITORIAL: LIFTING IRAQ SANCTIONS VOA 14 May 2003 -- The United States, Britain, and Spain have introduced a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would end the sanctions imposed on Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The resolution would also create an Iraqi Assistance Fund for reconstruction and relief efforts.
• State Department Says Lifting Sanctions Would Benefit Iraqi People Washington File 14 May 2003 -- The State Department May 12 issued a double fact sheet on a draft resolution tabled May 9 at the United Nations Security Council by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain that would lift U.N. economic sanctions on Iraq to support the country's recovery and reconstruction.
• U.S. Presses for Early Security Council Vote on Iraq Washington File 14 May 2003 -- The United States and co-sponsors of the new draft Security Council resolution on Iraq intensified discussions with other members of the council May 14 in a push to get the text, which would lift economic sanctions on Iraq and pave the way for resuming oil exports, adopted within a week.
• U.S. Asking Countries to Repatriate Iraq Funds Washington File 14 May 2003 -- The United States wants other countries to identify assets Saddam Hussein and members of his regime removed from Iraq and repatriate them to a fund for rebuilding the country, a senior State Department official says.

United Nations

• U-N / IRAQ VOA 14 May 2003 -- U-S Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte is calling on the Security Council to rapidly approve a resolution allowing Iraqi oil to be sold. The money would be used to help pay for relief and reconstruction in Iraq. The United States, Britain and Spain -- co-sponsors of a resolution to lift sanctions against Iraq -- want the Security Council to bring their proposal to a vote next week.
• Powell Says U.S., Russia Working on Iraq U.N. Resolution Washington File 14 May 2003 -- The United States and Russia will be working closely together on passing a resolution in the United Nations Security Council "that we will use to help the people of Iraq build a better life for themselves and for their children," Secretary of State Colin Powell said May 14 in Moscow during a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
• Security Council Mission to West Africa Postponed Washington File 14 May 2003 -- The Security Council mission to West Africa has been postponed for several weeks to allow council members to concentrate on a draft resolution on Iraq, the president of the council announced May 13.
• UN: Process Under Way To Deal With Iraq's Massive Debt Burden RFE/L 14 May 2003 -- As the UN Security Council starts debating the U.S. proposal for administering postwar Iraq, attention is focusing on control of the country's oil wealth. But before Iraq's oil revenues can be used for reconstruction, as the United States has pledged, Iraq's massive debt burden must be addressed. The draft resolution under consideration in the council contains some provisions that could signal how the issue will be resolved.
• Top UN relief official in Iraq meets top US civilian on security, food procurement UN News Centre 14 May 2003 -- The top United Nations relief official in Iraq met with the top United States civilian official there today to discuss the lack of security hampering UN relief efforts, and the use of money from the UN Oil-for-Food programme to pay Iraqi farmers for the upcoming spring harvest.
• Security Council meets on draft resolution on UN role, interim rule in Iraq UN News Centre 14 May 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council is holding discussions today on a draft resolution from the occupying powers on interim arrangements and the UN's role in Iraq, and the United States said it hoped to present a modified version of the text for a vote next week on lifting sanctions, funding and other issues.

Reconstruction Issues

• IRAQ / GRAVES VOA 14 May 2003 -- Iraqi workers are extracting the bodies of thousands of victims of the Saddam Hussein regime buried in a killing field south of Baghdad.
• IRAQ / GRAVES VOA 14 May 2003 -- Iraqi relief workers have exhumed thousands of bodies from a mass grave south of Baghdad, that human-rights workers say is one of the biggest killing fields discovered from the Saddam Hussein era.
• WOMEN AND IRAQ'S FUTURE VOA 14 May 2003 -- As political forces in Iraq debate the country's future, one group that is working hard not to be overlooked is women -- who have suffered cultural discrimination and may face even more obstacles brought on by possible fundamentalist interpretations of Islam.
• Iraq Museum Antiquities VOA 14 May 2003 -- Today, we tell about efforts to recover archeological treasures that were stolen from the National Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Iraqi Schools VOA 14 May 2003 -- The United States Agency for International Development, U-S-A-I-D, has begun a project to rebuild education in Iraq. Some Iraqi schools have started again following the American-led war in that country.
• IRAQ: Reviving the food distribution system IRIN 14 May 2003 -- "We need our salaries," says Ali Qasim Hasan, a cashier working with the Ministry of Trade (MT) in the Muthanna Governorate of southern Iraq. "I am here to ask the United Nations to help."

Foreign Reactions

• POWELL/RUSSIA VOA 14 May 2003 -- After a day of talks with Russian leaders in Moscow, Secretary of State Colin Powell says differences remain over a draft Security Council resolution on the future of Iraq.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ / OIL VOA 14 May 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair Wednesday defended U-S and British plans for how to manage Iraqi oil sales, which are contained in the new U-N Security Council draft resolution on Iraq.
• FRANKS / LAWSUIT VOA 14 May 2003 -- A Belgian lawyer has filed a legal action in a Brussels court accusing the commander of U-S forces in the Middle East, General Tommy Franks, of war crimes. The action comes under a controversial Belgian law that allows Belgian courts to try foreigners for alleged war crimes.

News Reports

• IRAQ / JOURNALISTS VOA 14 May 2003 -- The recent war in Iraq may have been the most intensely covered conflict in modern history. What made the news coverage unique was the presence of more than 500 journalists who were attached to, or "embedded" with, coalition military units. While the program was far from perfect, it has drawn praise from both news organizations and military officials.
• IRAQ: UN and NGOs voice security concerns IRIN 14 May 2003 -- The top United Nations relief official in Iraq voiced concerns over security on Wednesday to the leading United States civilian official there. "From a UN perspective our immediate concerns are related with security in the broad sense: law and order, not for us as persons but for the society," Ramiro Lopes da Silva, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, told reporters after meeting in Baghdad with Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, head of the US-run Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA).