Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• FIRE CAUSES EXPLOSIONS AT AMMUNITION FACILITY CENTCOM 09 Jun 2003 -- A fire caused a series of explosions at a Coalition ammunition supply point here late Monday afternoon.
• U.S. Troops Assist Injured German Peacekeepers; Soldier Killed In Iraq Assault AFPS 09 Jun 2003 -- U.S. military medical personnel treated the more than 20 German peacekeepers injured in the June 7 suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to a Coalition Joint Task Force 180 press release.
• COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE (June 9, 2003) CENTCOM 09 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 the black market trade in fuel and other commodities.
• U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN MEDICAL RUSE AT AL QAIM CHECKPOINT CENTCOM 09 Jun 2003 -- One U.S. soldier was killed by small arms fire late Sunday evening while manning a traffic control point here.
• COALITION RESPONDS TO FICTIONAL AL SA'AH NEWSPAPER ARTICLE CENTCOM 09 Jun 2003 -- A recent claim by the Al Sa'ah newspaper that U.S. forces raped two girls in the Wasit governate on June 7 is absolutely false.

Deployments

US Policy

• BUSH-IRAQ WEAPONS VOA 09 Jun 2003 -- President Bush says time will prove that Iraq had an arms program devoted to weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Bush says history will show he made the right decision when he ordered military action against Saddam Hussein.
• Rumsfeld: Iraqi Attacks May Have 'Element of Organization' AFPS 09 Jun 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld does not believe that the recent spate of attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq is the result of any "well-organized nationally directed campaign," he said June 9.
• Defense Agency Issues Excerpt on Iraqi Chemical Warfare Program Washington File 09 Jun 2003 -- The Defense Department released on June 7 an unclassified excerpt of an earlier Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) study on Iraq's chemical warfare (CW) program in which it stated that there is "no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons, or where Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities."
• President, Top Advisers: 'Iraq Had a Weapons Program' AFPS 09 Jun 2003 -- President Bush, meeting with Cabinet members today, reiterated that U.S. credibility is not at stake over issues of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

United Nations

• Iraqi political leaders urge UN envoy to help set up democracy UN News Centre 09 Jun 2003 -- The top United Nations official in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, continued his efforts to consult with the widest possible spectrum of Iraqi society today, meeting with a top Muslim official who asked that the world body play an independent role in helping the Iraqi people.

Reconstruction Issues

• IRAQ / BREMER VOA 09 Jun 2003 -- The U-S administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has held, what he calls, an economic consultative-council meeting with business and economic leaders in Iraq.
• Iraq: Christians Uncertain About Their Future RFE/L 09 Jun 2003 -- Iraq's Christians suffered discrimination and manipulation under the former regime. Although a few became high-standing officials in Saddam Hussein's government, the vast majority of the country's Christians could not count on the beneficence of authorities in Baghdad. Now, some Christians say the United States has won the war but is still far from winning the peace -- something that leaves them wary about the future.

Foreign Reactions

• U.S. Welcomes New Zealand's Assistance for Iraq, Afghanistan Washington File 09 Jun 2003 -- The State Department issued a press release June 9 expressing appreciation for New Zealand's decision to "expand its contribution to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, and to make a meaningful contribution to stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq."
• U.S.: New Surveys Show Anti-Americanism Growing Stronger RFE/L 09 Jun 2003 -- New surveys by Washington's prestigious Pew Research Center indicate international opinion of the United States has plunged during the past year. It says the war in Iraq widened the rift between America and Western Europe, inflamed Muslims, and weakened support for the war on terrorism.

News Reports

• Residents Fear Contaminated Food Near Iraqi Nuclear Plant VOA 09 Jun 2003 -- While nuclear experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency investigate possible radioactive contamination at the looted Tuwaitha nuclear research center south of Baghdad, local residents have become afraid to drink the water or eat locally produced food, fearing it may be contaminated.
• Western Press Review: 'Weapons Of Mass Delusion' And The Pole Position RFE/L 09 Jun 2003 -- Commentary in U.S. and British newspapers today and over the weekend focus on the continuing fallout from the failure of coalition forces in Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction. Also on the editorial agenda is Poland's vote over the weekend to join the European Union and Britain's long-awaited decision on whether to join the eurozone.
• IRAQ: In the south, fresh water comes out of a truck IRIN 09 Jun 2003 -- It is a telling symptom of the topsy-turvy world that is postwar Iraq that the 20 litres of water Muhammad Ma'tuq is loading into the back of his truck cost 10 times as much as the 20 litres of petrol he bought on his way towards getting it.