Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers 30 Jun 2003 -- Participating were Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

• Rumsfeld Says Iraq Coalition Now Fighting "War with Terrorists" Washington File 30 Jun 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that while the liberation of Iraq is complete, "our war with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the globe continues" and it "will not be over any time soon."
• Massive Coalition Raids in Iraq Continue, say US Officials VOA News 30 Jun 2003 -- U.S. defense officials say coalition forces in Iraq are continuing massive raids, in an effort to clamp down on armed groups attacking U.S. and British soldiers. At least 22 U.S. soldiers have been killed since May first, when President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
• Iraqi Operations Net Baath Officials, Sympathizers AFPS 30 Jun 2003 -- Coalition forces detained thousands of suspected Baath Party members and sympathizers during Operations Desert Scorpion and Sidewinder, Combined Joint Task Force 7 officials said today.
• PENTAGON / RUMSFELD VOA 30 Jun 2003 -- U-S defense officials say coalition forces in Iraq are continuing massive raids, in an effort to clamp down on armed groups attacking U-S and British soldiers. At least 22 U-S soldiers have been killed since May first, when President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
• Iraq: 'Operation Sidewinder' Attempting To Root Out Insurgents RFE/L 30 Jun 2003 -- U.S. forces are conducting a massive sweep operation in Iraq in an effort to root out armed resistance and stop deadly attacks on American troops. The U.S. military says "Operation Sidewinder" is targeted against armed Saddam Hussein loyalists. However, hard-core supporters of the former regime are not the only problem the coalition faces.
• US Arrests Local Iraqi Official VOA News 30 Jun 2003 -- U.S. troops in Iraq have arrested the U.S.-appointed administrator of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf on charges of kidnapping and corruption.
• US 'Operation Desert Sidewinder' Sweeps North of Baghdad VOA News 30 Jun 2003 -- The U.S. military is sweeping the area north of Baghdad as part of a new operation designed to root out Saddam Hussein's remaining supporters and stop the daily attacks on U.S. troops. The U.S. military is using helicopters, tanks and infantry for Operation Desert Sidewinder, searching for former ruling-party loyalists and the people responsible for a string of recent deadly attacks on U.S. troops. American officials say scores of people have been arrested in a series of raids, mainly north of Baghdad.
• IRAQ / SIDEWINDER VOA 30 Jun 2003 -- The U-S military is sweeping the area north of Baghdad as part of a new operation to root out Saddam Hussein's remaining supporters and stop the daily attacks on U-S troops.
• IRAQ / GOVERNOR VOA 30 Jun 2003 -- Coalition forces in Iraq have arrested the interim governor of the southern Najaf region on corruption charges.
• IRAQ / SIDEWINDER VOA 30 Jun 2003 -- The U-S military is sweeping the area north of Baghdad as part of a new operation designed to root out Saddam Hussein's remaining supporters and stop the daily attacks on U-S troops.
• International forces prepare to take charge of southern Iraq USMC News 30 Jun 2003 -- As the Marines prepare to leave Iraq, the Polish Multi-National Division is preparing to fill in the gap.
• Military, local police providing Al Hillah security USMC News 30 Jun 2003 -- Sitting behind his desk at the Al Hillah's main police station, where he oversees the police force for all of Babil province, Kadheen Jabar Maloh wears a Philadelphia Police Department patch bearing the motto "Honor - Integrity - Service."
• 1-9 FA SECURITY PATROL ATTACKED, REPORTER INJURED CENTCOM 30 Jun 2003 -- A security patrol from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery was attacked June 29 here at approximately 11:30 p.m.
• SCORPION AND SIDEWINDER CONTINUE TO YIELD RESULTS CENTCOM 30 Jun 2003 -- A total of eight raids were conducted in the last 24 hours by the 4th Infantry Division. Operation Sidewinder resulted in 32 detained individuals and 10 AK-47s, two pistols and one mortar being confiscated. In one successful raid, the 4th ID detained a Ba'ath party colonel along with five other individuals.
• FIRE AND WATER DOMINATE COALITION HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS CENTCOM 30 Jun 2003 -- Sunday's humanitarian missions included delivery of fuel and thousands of gallons water, along with well repairs and removal of ordnance.
• 'Operation Sidewinder' Under Way in Iraq VOA News 30 Jun 2003 -- U.S. troops in central Iraq have detained scores of people in a new operation aimed at rooting out armed resistance and stemming almost daily attacks against coalition forces.
• EOD experts keep assessors safe AFPN 30 Jun 2003 -- Finding a bomb that accurately struck an Iraqi target but did not go "bang" is not a good thing, according to combined weapons effectiveness assessment team officials.
• 'Red Horse' rides in to Tallil AFPN 30 Jun 2003 -- The 1st Expeditionary Red Horse Group stepped off a plane here June 26, arriving on the very runway they came to repair.
• Predator team prowls Iraq AFPN 30 Jun 2003 -- It hunts alone, flying quietly for more than 20 hours at a time, carefully scouring the Earth for the most minute evidence of ground activity and discretely relaying intelligence information to analysts half a world away.
• Acting secretary of Army visits soldiers in Iraq Army News 30 Jun 2003 -- Temperatures topped out at 117 degrees as Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee visited with soldiers in Iraq last week.
• Soldiers help train Fallujah police Army News 30 Jun 2003 -- Military police and other 3rd Infantry Division soldiers are helping train the police force in Fallujah, a city about 30 miles west of Baghdad that has been a hotbed of opposition to the coalition.
• Fire and water dominate coalition humanitarian efforts ARCENT CJTF-7 30 Jun 2003
• Coalition upholds international law ARCENT CJTF-7 30 Jun 2003
• Sidewinder bites again ARCENT CJTF-7 30 Jun 2003

Deployments

• Marine major shines in Aussie Forces USMC News 30 Jun 2003 -- When the conflict in Iraq finally exploded into a full-scale war, Wayalan Cain was proud to be serving as a major in the United States Marine Corps.

US Policy

• Rumsfeld Uses American History as Iraqi Lesson AFPS 30 Jun 2003 -- As Independence Day approaches, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld compared what the United States went through after the American Revolution to the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Struggle for a Democratic Iraq May Be Long and Costly, Biden Says Washington File 30 Jun 2003 -- The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the American people do not fully realize the extent of the task of bringing stability to Iraq.

United Nations

• UN envoy opens Baghdad workshop on bringing rights violators to justice UN News Centre 30 Jun 2003 -- Noting that at least 300,000 people disappeared in Saddam Hussein's detention centres and torture chambers, United Nations envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello opened a two-day workshop in Baghdad today to discuss with Iraqis, international experts and members of the United States-run interim authority how to attain justice.
• UN: Blix Leaves As UNMOVIC Chief, But He's Not Going Quietly RFE/L 30 Jun 2003 -- Hans Blix is due today to step down as the chief UN arms inspector for Iraq. His departure comes at the expiration of a three-year contract to lead the UN agency responsible for hunting down Iraq's suspected chemical and biological weapons and mid- to long-range missiles. But Blix is not going quietly. In recent weeks, he has repeatedly suggested that Washington's failure to find weapons of mass destruction casts doubts on the legitimacy of the Iraq war and vindicates his stand that UN arms inspectors were successfully containing the threat from Baghdad.
• IRAQ: UN Special representative calls for action on rights violations IRIN 30 Jun 2003 -- The special representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, on Monday called on the Iraqi people to take the lead in deciding how to deal with the massive human rights violations of the past.

Reconstruction Issues

• First Customer 'Tanks Up' at Iraqi Oil Terminal Navy NewStand 30 Jun 2003 -- U.S. and coalition naval vessels provided security June 30 for the first commercial oil tanker to receive Iraqi oil at the Mina Al Bakr offshore oil terminal. The terminal is located in the North Arabian Gulf, outside the Khor Abd Allah waterway.

Foreign Reactions

• Plans for NATO support to Poland's Iraq mission finalized Washington File 10 Jul 2003 -- On 30 June 2003, a force review conference held at NATO's main European military headquarters in Belgium finalized the plans for NATO support to Poland in its planned role in Iraq.
• Third International Division Possible in Iraq AFPS 30 Jun 2003 -- A third international division- sized unit could possibly be stood up in Iraq in the future, DoD officials said during a press conference today.

News Reports

• IRAQ: Insecurity in Basra hospitals IRIN 30 Jun 2003 -- The tall, moustachioed security guard cuts a commanding figure as he patrols the heavy wrought iron gates. At his feet lies a collection of firearms - three Kalashnikov assault rifles, a couple of pistols and a hand grenade, all wrapped in bits of paper with names written in Arabic on each of them.