Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• 1/5 describes hardships of war in Iraq's early days (Part 1) Marine Corps News 19 Jun 2003-- While President Bush was giving Saddam Hussein and his loyalists 48 hours to submit to coalition demands, Marines and sailors of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were in position to attack.
• Civil affairs soldiers apprehend car thief in Baghdad Army News Service 19 Jun 2003-- While five soldiers from Tactical Support Team 4, 411th Civil Affairs Battalion were en route to the battalion headquarters to deliver the unit's mail, a crowd of shouting Iraqi citizens informed the soldiers that a carjacking was taking place nearby.
• Civil affairs team helps reconstruct pipeline, distribute food Army News Service 19 Jun 2003-- The 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Danbury, Conn., is rebuilding sewer lines in a run down part of the city, and providing food for a neglected group of people.
• Improving Iraqis' Daily Life Focus of 4th Infantry Division Washington File 19 Jun 2003 -- The commander of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, which operates over three provinces of northeastern and central Iraq, says the troops under his command have been "working tirelessly to re-establish basic municipal services and systems to improve the quality of life for Iraqi citizens."
• IRAQ / ATTACKS VOA 19 Jun 2003 -- Unknown assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U-S military ambulance about 35-kilometers south of Baghdad (Thursday), killing one soldier and wounding two others. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks against U-S forces in Iraq.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ VOA 19 Jun 2003 -- More than 50 U-S soldiers have died in Iraq since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May first. The Pentagon says most of those soldiers have died in accidents, but at least 16 have been killed by hostile fire. In an effort to crackdown on groups attacking coalition forces, the military has launched dozens of raids against pockets of armed resistance.
• Grenade Assault on Ambulance Kills, Injures Soldiers AFPS 19 Jun 2003 -- One 804th Medical Brigade soldier was killed and two injured today during a rocket- propelled grenade assault on a military ambulance that occurred north of Camp Dogwood in the town of al Iskandariyah, U.S. Central Command reported today.
• US Soldier Killed in Latest Attack in Iraq VOA News 19 Jun 2003 -- A rocket propelled grenade attack has killed a U.S. soldier in Iraq, in the third strike at U.S. forces in 24 hours.
• US Soldiers Attacked in Iraq VOA News 19 Jun 2003 -- In the third attack on U.S. forces in the last 24-hours, U.S. troops have been attacked south of Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding two others.
• 1 Iraqi Killed in Mortar Attack on Coalition Run Office in Baghdad VOA News 19 Jun 2003 -- U.S. military officials say a mortar attack killed one Iraqi and injured 12 others late Wednesday at a coalition-run aid office north of Baghdad. This is one of several recent attacks against Iraqis working with coalition forces.
• ONE U.S. SOLDIER KILLED, TWO INJURED IN RPG ATTACK CENTCOM 19 Jun 2003 -- One 804th Medical Brigade soldier was killed and two injured in a rocket propelled grenade attack on a military ambulance June 19 in an area north of Camp Dogwood in the town of Al Iskandariyah.
• SAMARRA CIVIL MILITARY OPERATIONS CENTER HIT BY MORTAR ROUND CENTCOM 19 Jun 2003 -- A Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC) in Samarra was hit by an 82mm mortar round June 18, killing one Iraqi and injuring 12 other Iraqis.
• OPERATION DESERT SCORPION CONTINUES TO BREAKDOWN RESISTANCE CENTCOM 19 Jun 2003 -- Coalition forces continue to defeat remaining pockets of resistance throughout Iraq, in efforts to provide a secure and stable environment for the Iraqi citizens.
• 4ID SOLDIERS SEIZE CASH, VALUABLES IN TIKRIT FARM HOUSES CENTCOM 19 Jun 2003 -- Fourth Infantry Division soldiers conducted two raids June 18 at separate farm houses outside of Tikrit, seizing $8 million (U.S.), millions of Iraqi dinar, a large sum of British pounds, British Sterling and Euro still waiting to be counted by Coalition Forces.
• IRAQ / ATTACKS VOA 19 Jun 2003 -- U-S military officials say a mortar attack killed one Iraqi and injured 12 others late Wednesday at a coalition-run aid office north of Baghdad. This is one of several recent attacks against Iraqis working with coalition forces.

Deployments

US Policy

• CONGRESS / IRAQ VOA 19 Jun 2003 -- Three key U-S lawmakers arrive in Amman Friday at the start of a five-day Middle East trip that will also take them to Baghdad, where they will assess U-S reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
• Wolfowitz Says U.S. Seeks Allied Relief for Forces in Iraq AFPS 19 Jun 2003 -- The United States is seeking support to relieve coalition forces of some of their commitments in Iraq, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told a House committee June 18, stating that "we need help from our allies" and "we are actively seeking it."

United Nations

Reconstruction Issues

Foreign Reactions

• Romania: Parliament Approves Deployment Of 678 Soldiers To Iraq RFE/L 20 Jun 2003 -- The Romanian parliament today approved unanimously the deployment of 678 peacekeepers to Iraq.
• Finland: PM Resigns Over Use Of Classified Iraq Documents RFE/L 19 Jun 2003 -- Controversy over the Iraq war has claimed its first head of government -- but it wasn't Britain's Tony Blair or U.S. President George W. Bush. Both face inquiries over whether the intelligence used to justify the war was accurate or possibly even distorted. Finnish Prime Minister Anneli Jaatteenmaki resigned yesterday after being accused of lying to parliament over her use of classified documents on Iraq.

News Reports

• Iraq: Baghdad Jazz Pianist Longs For The Days Of Black Suits, Dance Halls And Duke Ellington RFE/L 20 Jun 2003 -- In the 1950s and '60s, Baghdad was a city of jazz musicians, the foxtrot, and a liberal middle class. That atmosphere is gone now, maybe forever. A Baghdad jazz pianist, Samir Peter, says the former regime of Saddam Hussein had no tolerance for jazz. The regime insisted jazz was harmful and alien to Iraq's cultural traditions. Today, Hussein is gone, but after 30 years of neglect, few Iraqis seem to appreciate jazz music. Concert halls have been looted or destroyed. Peter himself has only one dream -- to leave Iraq to pursue his art.
• IRAQ: Interview with Amnesty International head IRIN 19 Jun 2003 -- In an interview with IRIN from her office in London, Irene Zubaida Khan, the head of Amnesty International, described the current state of human rights in Iraq as "worrying", and called on the international community to make human rights the focus of the country's future reconstruction. "To rebuild a country is difficult under any circumstances; to rebuild a country like Iraq will be a real challenge," she said.
• IRAQ: Hundreds of Palestinian refugees evicted by landlords IRIN 19 Jun 2003 -- Haifa Sports Club used to be a Palestinian cultural centre in Baladiyat in northeastern Baghdad. The Palestinian flag flies high with a sign next to it saying "No to settlements and yes to the right of return". But since the fall of Saddam Hussein, some Palestinians have found themselves discriminated against and homeless. Now the club has been turned into an informal refugee camp to accommodate about 250 families.