Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• CIA Statement on Recently Acquired Iraqi Centrifuge Equipment Central Intelligence Agency 26 Jun 2003 -- The head of Iraq's pre-1991 centrifuge uranium enrichment program, Dr. Mahdi Shukur Ubaydi, approached U.S. officials in Baghdad and turned over a volume of centrifuge documents and components he had hidden in his garden from inspectors since 1991.

• Iraqi Killed in Attack Near Baghdad Airport AFPS 26 Jun 2003 -- An Iraqi driver was killed and an unknown number of people wounded in an attack on an Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority vehicle near Baghdad International Airport, Combined Joint Task Force 7 officials said today.
• TWO SOLDIERS MISSING, SEARCH ONGOING CENTCOM 26 Jun 2003 -- A search is currently underway to locate two U.S. soldiers, assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Seven, who were reported missing June 25 from their post approximately 40 kilometers north of Baghdad.
• PENTAGON / IRAQ VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- With the number of coalition casualties climbing in Iraq, U-S forces are continuing a massive sweep north and west of Baghdad designed to crackdown on Iraqis responsible for the violence. Top U-S defense officials are pledging that the sporadic fighting will not undermine coalition efforts to bring stability to postwar Iraq.
• Massive Sweep Underway in Iraq to Stop Attacks on Coalition Troops VOA News 26 Jun 2003 -- With the number of coalition casualties climbing in Iraq, U.S. forces are continuing a massive sweep north and west of Baghdad designed to crackdown on Iraqis responsible for the violence. While violent incidents involving U.S. and British soldiers appear to be rising, officials at the Pentagon insist coalition forces are making significant progress in their efforts to bring security to the Iraqi people.
• ONE SERVICE MEMBER KILLED, EIGHT WOUNDED IN HOSTILE FIRE INCIDENT CENTCOM 26 Jun 2003 -- One special operations force service member was killed and eight injured in a hostile fire incident on the morning of June 26 in southwest Baghdad.
• Iraq: As Fighting Continues, One Question Emerges -- When Is a War Really Over? RFE/L 26 Jun 2003 -- The U.S. government has declared that "major combat" in Iraq has ended, but the fighting there is far from over. While many people tend to think of Iraq as being in a "postwar" stage, the deaths of almost 70 U.S. and British troops in the past two months highlight the ambiguity of the situation.
• US Troops Attacked in Baghdad Suburb, One Iraqi Reported Killed VOA News 26 Jun 2003 -- An explosion targeting a U.S. military patrol in a Baghdad suburb has left at least one person dead.
• US Soldier Killed in Attack on Military Patrol in Baghdad VOA News 26 Jun 2003 -- An attack on a U.S. military patrol in Baghdad has killed at least one person and injured several others. It marks the latest in a series of attacks against American troops in the country.
• Iraq: Attack In Baghdad Leads To Two Deaths RFE/L 26 Jun 2003 -- U.S. military officers say an Iraqi man and a U.S. soldier were killed when a convoy of vehicles was attacked in Baghdad today.
• IRAQ/VIOLENCE VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- An attack on a U-S military patrol in Baghdad has killed at least one person and injured several others. It marks the latest in a series of attacks against American troops in the country.
• ONE MARINE KILLED, TWO INJURED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT CENTCOM 26 Jun 2003 -- A Marine died and two others were injured here June 25 when the light armored vehicle they were traveling in rolled over on a soft shoulder of the road.
• COALITION CONTINUES EFFORTS TO REBUILD IRAQ CENTCOM 26 Jun 2003 -- Coalition forces continue to help rebuild Iraq through reconstruction and humanitarian aid.
• COALITION FORCES CONTINUE PATROLS CENTCOM 26 Jun 2003 -- Coalition forces continued aggressive patrols throughout the country over the past 24 hours, conducting 1,185 day patrols and 975 night patrols. They also jointly patrolled with Iraqi Police conducting 199 day patrols and 122 night patrols. On their own, Iraqi police conducted 14 day patrols and 40 night patrols.
• 'Captured' Iraqi fuel tested for use AFPN 26 Jun 2003 -- As the mission in Iraq shifts daily toward stabilization, finding ways to reorganize and power the country's infrastructure become more important, according to officials.

Deployments

US Policy

• Iraqi Scientist's Information Seen Supporting U.S. WMD Claim Washington File 26 Jun 2003 -- A former Iraqi nuclear scientist has provided American authorities parts and documents from Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program that he claims to have buried more than 12 years ago, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters June 26.
• Powell-Iraq VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell says he's confident that American forces in Iraq can "wipe out" elements there responsible for the series of lethal attacks that have killed at least 20 U-S soldiers since combat was declared over on May 1st. Two U-S servicemen were killed and several others wounded in fresh attacks Thursday.
• RICE/MIDEAST-IRAQ VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- U-S national security advisor Condoleezza Rice has called for the total outlawing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Her comments were made in London while en route to the Middle East, where she will hold weekend talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
• BUSH IRAQ VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- The White House says the discovery of parts of an Iraqi uranium-enrichment program shows that Saddam Hussein was lying about weapons of mass destruction. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the discovery supports its finding that Iraq does not have a nuclear-weapons program.
• US Congress Examines Intelligence Used for Iraq War VOA News 26 Jun 2003 -- A key member of Congress looking into information used to justify the war in Iraq is focusing on whether the Bush administration relied too heavily on circumstantial evidence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

United Nations

• UN panel approves $2.27 billion in compensation for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait UN News Centre 26 Jun 2003 -- The United Nations panel set up to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990-1991 today approved awards of more than $2.27 billion, bringing the total awarded so far to $46.3 billion.

Reconstruction Issues

• State Department Providing Computer Training to Iraqi Medical Students Washington File 26 Jun 2003 -- As part of the U.S. effort to rebuild Iraqi infrastructure, the State Department is providing computer technology and training to medical students in Baghdad.
• Text: Iraqi Reconstruction Efforts Target "Decades of Misrule" Washington File 26 Jun 2003 -- The reconstruction of Iraq will not only help the country recover from the recent conflict with coalition forces, but will also rebuild from "several decades of misrule," according to Randal Quarles, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs.
• Bremer Says Coalition Will Prevail Against Ba'athist Holdouts Washington File 26 Jun 2003 -- U.S. Administrator for Iraq L. Paul Bremer said that the pockets of Ba'athist regime holdouts perpetrating violence against coalition forces in Iraq will be controlled. "We are acting forcefully in response," he said in a June 25 interview with CNN.
• Iraq: Aid Agencies Say Deteriorating Security Situation Impeding Their Activities RFE/L 26 Jun 2003 -- As attacks on coalition troops occur in Iraq on an almost daily basis, many aid agencies say the security situation in the country is deteriorating and that their activities are directly threatened.
• IRAQ: War victims stake claim for compensation IRIN 26 Jun 2003 -- Ammar Abd al-Husayn is not sure what to think when he sees British Coalition forces patrolling the streets near his home. He is certainly glad that they have driven Saddam Husayn from power and, yes, he is reassured to know that his house is safe from looters when the troops are around; but the bomb which killed his father and younger brother was a British one.

Foreign Reactions

• Blair, Putin Agree on Iraq Reconstruction VOA News 26 Jun 2003 -- Despite their disagreements over military action against Saddam Hussein, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed today on the importance of working together to reconstruct Iraq.
• U.S.: Bush, EU Leaders Stress Reconciliation After Bitter Iraq Debate RFE/L 26 Jun 2003 -- The leaders of the United States and the European Union held their annual summit in Washington yesterday. As RFE/RL reports, both sides stressed the need for reconciliation after falling out over the Iraq war.
• BRITAIN / RUSSIA VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- Despite their disagreements over military action against Saddam Hussein, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed today on the importance of working together to reconstruct Iraq.
• Damascus Demands Return of Syrian Border Guards by US VOA News 26 Jun 2003 -- Syria's news agency says Washington has not responded to complaints from Damascus about Syrian border guards detained by U.S. forces in Iraq. The guards were taken into custody during a raid on an Iraqi convoy headed toward the Syrian border.
• IRAQ: Interview with former Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi IRIN 26 Jun 2003 -- Adnan Pachachi is a prominent Sunni Muslim opposition leader, a former Iraqi foreign minister and former envoy to the United Nations. Having no association with Saddam Hussein's regime, he is about to return to Baghdad following three decades in exile. Now 80, he wants to play a role in the new Iraq.

News Reports

• Iraq: Shi'a Holy Cities Regaining Their Former Prominence RFE/L 26 Jun 2003 -- The Iraqi holy cities of Al-Najaf and Karbala are centers of religious learning for Shi'a Muslims from all over the world. Their importance as sacred hubs of Shi'ism was suppressed during the rule of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. But now, many Shi'a clerics are returning to Iraq, and the holy cities are regaining their former prominence.
• IRAQ POSTWAR TROUBLES VOA 26 Jun 2003 -- New violence in Iraq that took six British soldier's lives has again the attention of editorialists on the war of attrition under way there.