Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• MEMBER OF 'IRAQI TOP 55' IN COALITION CONTROL CENTCOM 04 Jun 2003 -- Ayad Futayyih Khalifa al-Rawi, number 30 on the U.S. Central Command "Iraqi Top 55" list, is in custody of Coalition forces.
• IRAQ/ SADDAM VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- Coalition forces in Iraq are carrying out a major excavation and forensic work on a Baghdad house that was bombed by U-S warplanes a few weeks after the war started. It was believed Saddam Hussein and two of his sons were inside the house when the bombing occurred.
• COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY (June 4, 2003) CENTCOM 04 Jun 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq through the following activities.
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE (June 4, 2003) CENTCOM 04 Jun 2003 -- Coalition Forces continue to aggressively patrol Iraq to eliminate crimes against people and property, rid populated areas of weapons, ammunition and explosives, and stop black market trade in fuel and other commodities.
• Lessons Learned Process on Iraq War Explained AFPS 04 Jun 2003 -- Although the U.S. and coalition campaign against Iraq lasted just 38 days, Pentagon leaders are now in the process of analyzing data collected during the war to better understand "what went right" and "what went wrong."
• COALITION EFFORT'S AID IRAQ RECOVERY ARCENT CJTF-7 04 Jun 2003
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO SECURE IRAQ ARCENT CJTF-7 04 Jun 2003

Deployments

US Policy

• "Progress in Iraq," by Congressman Vito Fossella Washington File 04 Jun 2003 -- This column by Vito Fossella, a New York Republican, who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was first published June 4 in The Washington Times. The column is in the public domain
• Feith Denies Pentagon Manipulated Intelligence Reports Washington File 04 Jun 2003 -- A senior U.S. Defense Department official June 4 described as inaccurate news reports claiming that a special group was formed at the Pentagon to manipulate intelligence reports about Iraq's links to international terrorist groups and its weapons of mass destruction program in order to make a case for going to war.
• CONGRESS/IRAQ W-M-D VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- A senior State Department official has told members of Congress there was no effort by the Bush administration to manipulate information about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to justify U.S-led military action. Testimony by John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, came amid mounting questions on Capitol Hill about the administration's basis for going to war in Iraq.
• BUSH/IRAQ OVERNIGHTER VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- President Bush goes to a military base in Qatar (Thursday) to personally thank some of the thousands of American soldiers who have served in Iraq. It is the last stop on a weeklong tour of Europe and the Middle East.
• Transcript: DoD Briefing on Policy and Intelligence Matters 04 Jun 2003 -- Briefing on policy and intelligence matters. Participating were Douglas J. Feith, under secretary of defense for policy, and William J. Luti, deputy under secretary of defense for special plans and Near East and South Asian affairs
• DoD Policy Chief Seeks to Clear Intel Record AFPS 04 Jun 2003 -- DoD officials attempted to lay to rest some media stories on intelligence information that are "not true and taking on the status of urban legends."
• Pentagon Denies Slanting Intelligence On Iraq RFE/L 04 Jun 2003 -- The U.S. Defense Department is denying that the government sought to mold intelligence findings to support the view that Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction posed an imminent threat to U.S. interests.
• PENTAGON/INTELLIGENCE VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- A senior Defense Department official has rejected suggestions the Pentagon manipulated intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs and its links to terrorism to justify a war.

United Nations

• UN: Blix Raises Concerns About Iraq's Elusive Weapons Of Mass Destruction RFE/L 04 Jun 2003 -- UN weapons inspectors remain outside of Iraq, but their chief, Hans Blix, will appeal for a revived role in his last report to the UN Security Council tomorrow. Blix's written report cites a number of unresolved issues related to Iraqi chemical- and biological-weapons programs. It could stir new debate in the Security Council about the way inspections should be concluded.
• IAEA/IRAQ ( VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- A small team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency left Vienna for Baghdad to look at a major nuclear installation.
• IRAQ: UNICEF receives vaccines for war newborns IRIN 04 Jun 2003 -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday that it had received 1.8 million doses of child vaccines and would soon begin an immunisation campaign to vaccinate the more than 120,000 children born in Iraq since the start of the war.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: SCIRI Says It Will Seek To Introduce 'Islamic Order' RFE/L 04 Jun 2003 -- Periodic marches in Baghdad by Iraqi Shi'ites demanding an Islamic state underline one of the main tensions in Iraqi politics -- the disagreement between secular-based parties and religious-based parties over what kind of society Iraq should be.
• IRAQ: Unexploded ordnance a major threat IRIN 04 Jun 2003 -- At first sight, there is little to distinguish the Iraqi Naval Academy from any other complex in Basra. There are the lines of beige-coloured buildings slung low against the desert heat, the usual network of fetid canals and the ubiquitous mountains of uncollected rubbish.

Foreign Reactions

• NATO Voices "Openness to Doing More" in Iraq, U.S. Official Says Washington File 04 Jun 2003 -- A senior U.S. official says that as NATO foreign ministers meeting in Madrid June 3-4 discussed the situation in Iraq, he was "struck by the number of ministers who talked about the need to be open to doing more" in that country.
• U-S / IRAQ / SURVEY VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- A new survey released this week says the war in Iraq has sent support for the United States to new lows in predominantly Muslim countries and damaged the standing of the United Nations. The opinion poll also indicates the conflict has widened the rift between Americans and Europeans, softened support for the war on international terrorism and weakened the Atlantic Alliance.
• U.K.: Blair Faces Heat In Parliament Over Alleged Iraqi Weapons RFE/L 04 Jun 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces growing pressure over whether his office exaggerated the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in order to win support for the Iraq war. Today, before the House of Commons, he denied any intent to mislead the public and said he would support a parliamentary inquiry into the matter. The failure so far to find any banned weapons in Iraq is causing friction on both sides of the Atlantic.
• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 04 Jun 2003 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected calls for an independent public inquiry into the intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The prime minister was challenged in parliament about the failure to discover banned weapons in Iraq nearly two months after the fall of Baghdad.

News Reports

• Western Press Review: Was The Threat of Iraq's Weapons Overstated? RFE/L 04 Jun 2003 -- The story dominating much of the Western media today is the continuing failure to locate weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the existence of which were cited as one of the main justifications for launching the U.S.-led war. At issue is whether U.S. and British officials deliberately overstated the threat posed by Iraq's alleged weapons programs or were themselves misled by faulty intelligence.