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

Current Operations

• Iraq: U.S. Troops Come Under Attack In Al-Fallujah RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- U.S. troops overnight shot and killed at least two Iraqis in the central town of Al-Fallujah when their patrol vehicle came under rocket and rifle fire.
• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY (22 MAY) CENTCOM 22 May 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq.
• AZIZ SAJIH AL-NUMAN TAKEN IN CUSTODY CENTCOM 22 May 2003 -- Aziz Sajih Al-Numan is now in custody of Coalition Forces.
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE (22 MAY) CENTCOM 22 May 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to aggressively patrol to make Iraq safer for everyone by eliminating smuggling and trade in weapons and explosives.
• TEAM WORKS TO WIPE OUT PESTS, DISEASE IN TROOP AREAS IN IRAQ V Corps Release 22 May 2003-- Mosquitoes, flies, and rats here are getting the (combat) boot from the 714th Medical Detachment.
• 94TH ENGINEERS HELP REHABILITATE BAGHDAD ZOO V Corps Release 22 May 2003-- Imagine deploying for war and being given the mission of fixing a lion's cage. Not exactly what you expected, is it?
• Motor T moves Marines across Iraqi countryside Marine Corps News 22 May 2003-- The dark, hulking figure standing in front of an upcoming bridge concerned 27-year-old reserve motor transport operator Cpl. Frank Villaverde. It was two weeks into the war to liberate Iraq and convoys had become an attractive target to enemy forces.
• CH-46 CASUALTIES ARCENT CJTF-7 22 May 2003
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO SECURE IRAQ ARCENT CJTF-7 22 May 2003
• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQRECOVERY ARCENT CJTF-7 22 May 2003

Deployments

• 2D Marine Expeditionary Brigade to sail home Marine Corps News 22 May 2003-- The 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) is in the process of reforming, washing down its equipment and setting sail for home.

US Policy

• BUSH / UN-IRAQ VOA 22 May 2003 -- President Bush has praised the U-N Security Council vote to lift sanctions on Iraq. It was a big diplomatic victory for the White House.
• CONGRESS / IRAQ VOA 22 May 2003 -- U-S lawmakers criticized the Bush administration's handling of the reconstruction effort in Iraq during testimony by a senior U-S official before a Senate panel Thursday.
• Text: U.S. Hails U.N. Vote to Lift Sanctions on Iraq Washington File 22 May 2003 -- The United States expressed its appreciation to the U. N. Security Council May 22 following the overwhelming vote by 14 to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte called the decision a "momentous event for the people of Iraq."
• Negroponte: Ending Sanctions Facilitates Restoration of Iraqi Sovereignty Washington File 22 May 2003 -- The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, said the U.N. Security Council resolution ending sanctions on Iraq helps facilitate the restoration of sovereignty to the Iraqi people as soon as possible.

United Nations

• U-N / COUNCIL UNITY / SIDEBAR VOA 22 May 2003 -- During the heated debates that preceded the war in Iraq, the U-N Security Council was deeply divided. Now, some diplomats say the adoption of a Security Council resolution lifting nearly 13 years of economic sanctions against Iraq signifies an effort to restore council unity.
• Security Council members welcome newfound unity and UN role in Iraq UN News Centre 22 May 2003 -- United Nations Security Council members who approved a new resolution on interim post-war arrangements for Iraq today praised the spirit of rediscovered unity and consensus that made the compromise possible and emphasized the important role the world body now had in the Middle Eastern country's future.
• Security Council approves interim arrangements, UN role in Iraq, lifts sanctions UN News Centre 22 May 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council today adopted a new resolution on Iraq granting wide interim governing powers to the United States and its coalition partners, including a role for a UN Special Representative working with this provisional authority, and lifting sanctions imposed almost 13 years ago following the invasion of Kuwait.
• Annan pledges full UN support in helping Iraqis regain national sovereignty UN News Centre 22 May 2003 -- Once again stressing the "indispensable" need for Security Council unity in order to maintain peace, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today the world body would use the role granted it by a new resolution on interim arrangements in Iraq to ensure that the Iraqi people regain full national sovereignty as soon as possible.
• Top UN officials warn lawlessness in Iraq hindering relief efforts UN News Centre 22 May 2003 -- Top United Nations officials went before the Security Council today to deplore the breakdown of law and order in Iraq, which they said was severely undercutting the world body's ability to bring humanitarian aid to a needy civilian population.
• IRAQ-RESOLUTION VOA 22 May 2003 -- The new U-N Security Council resolution on Iraq lifts sanctions and paves the way for Iraqi oil to be sold again. Analysts say it also gives legitimacy to the U-S-led occupation of Iraq
• Fact Sheet: U.N. Security Council Resolution 1483 Lifts Sanctions on Iraq Washington File 22 May 2003 -- Following is the State Department fact sheet released May 22 on the U.N. vote of resolution 1483 lifting economic sanctions on Iraq. The resolution was approved by 14 of the 15 Security Council members; Syria was the only council member not present for the vote.
• Text: U.N. Security Council Ends Economic Sanctions on Iraq Washington File 22 May 2003 -- The U.N. Security Council May 22 adopted resolution 1483 ending economic sanctions on Iraq, setting out the responsibilities of the United Nations in Iraq, and supporting the establishment of a transitional administration run by Iraqis.
• United Nations Lift Sanctions Against Iraq AFPS 22 May 2003 -- The United Nations this morning lifted sanctions against Iraq following a 14-0 vote in the Security Council.
• UN / IRAQ / VOTE VOA 22 May 2003 -- The 15-member U-N Security Council has adopted a resolution lifting economic sanctions against Iraq, by a vote of 14 to zero. The resolution grants the United States and Britain broad control over Iraq's economic and political affairs, while giving the United Nations a role for a post-war Iraq.
• U-N / IRAQ VOA 22 May 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council has voted to lift sanctions against Iraq.
• Iraq: UN Lifts Economic Sanctions RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council has voted to lift all non-military sanctions against Iraq and to place the country under the control of the U.S.-led administration.
• UN / IRAQ / VOTE VOA 22 May 2003 -- The U-N Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution lifting sanctions against Iraq and granting the United States and Britain broad control over the country's economic and political affairs.
• IRAQ: UN Security Council lifts sanctions IRIN 22 May 2003 -- The United Nations Security Council on Thursday adopted a new resolution on Iraq lifting sanctions imposed almost 13 years ago following the invasion of Kuwait.

Reconstruction Issues

• Lessons from Bosnia VOA 22 May 2003 -- As the United States embarks on nation-building in Iraq, many are looking for possible lessons from the West's nation-building missions in the Balkans. One of the most important is that security comes first: establishing rule of law, controlling extremists, confronting organized crime and bringing criminals to justice.
• IRAQ / RULE OF LAW VOA 22 May 2003 -- Some influential Iraqi legal professionals in exile say the most urgent and fundamental priority for post-war Iraq is the establishment of law and order. The jurists are warning that, without a society based on the rules of law, Iraq may plunge into civil war.
• IRAQ / UN / HUMANITARIAN VOA 22 May 2003 -- Representatives of international relief groups told the Security Council today that Iraq's humanitarian conditions are deteriorating as crime sweeps the country.
• Education for Iraq VOA 22 May 2003 -- In Iraq when the new school year begins in September, the United States hopes to have in place revisions to textbooks that have taught a generation of Iraqis to be ready to die for Saddam Hussein. And the U-S civil administration also hopes to rebuild and renovate hundreds of schools.
• Western Press Review: U.S. Needs Help In Postwar Iraq RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- As the UN Security Council prepares today to vote on a new resolution on Iraq, one topic dominates commentary in Western newspapers today: rebuilding the country.
• Iraq: In Town Loyal To Hussein, Residents Unscathed But Feeling Effects Of War RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- Al-Tarmiya, a provincial Iraqi town some 60 kilometers north of Baghdad, is largely free of the postwar chaos that has rocked much of the country. The streets in this largely Sunni town are quiet, with none of the looting or violence that has plagued the capital just a short drive away. But residents here are still worried about their future, and say they are concerned that with no proper authorities, it is only a matter of time until the town sinks into lawlessness.
• Iraqi Jurists Propose Plan for Transitional Justice, Rule of Law in Iraq Washington File 22 May 2003 -- The Iraqi Jurists' Association, with logistical support from the State Department, has produced a plan for transitional justice and the rule of law in Iraq amidst the anarchy following the toppling of Saddam Hussein.
• IRAQ / MASS GRAVES VOA 22 May 2003 -- The man in charge of the U-S-led effort to rebuild Iraq toured a mass grave Thursday, where hundreds of Iraqis were executed in an uprising against the Iraqi regime following the 1991 Gulf war. The U-S official, Paul Bremmer, said evidence of the executions provides another reason why Saddam Hussein had to go

Foreign Reactions

• FRANCE / IRAQ, G-8 VOA 22 May 2003 -- U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell hailed a U-N Security Council vote to lift more than a decade-long sanction on Iraq. Mr. Powell spoke in the French capital at the start of a two-day foreign ministers meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized countries.
• Iraq: Meeting To Discuss Polish Role in Iraq Stabilization RFE/L 22 May 2003 -- Representatives from about 15 countries are scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting in Poland today to discuss troop contributions to a Polish-led stabilization force in Iraq.
• RUSSIA-US-PUTIN VOA 22 May 2003 -- Following a difficult few months of disagreement over the U-S-led war in Iraq, and a little more than one-week before meeting his American counterpart in St. Petersburg , Russian President Vladimir Putin says his government is willing to expand its cooperation with the United States.

News Reports

• C-I-A / IRAQ VOA 22 May 2003 -- U-S intelligence officials are reviewing what they knew about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction prior to the U-S-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration based its decision to go to war on Baghdad's refusal to give up its suspected chemical and biological weapons. But the intelligence review comes amid what a U-S official says are increasing questions within the government over exactly what weapons Iraq actually had in its arsenal.