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News Reports

Current Operations

• Baghdad mom becomes prison guard Army News Service 25 Aug 2003-- While many Iraqi women are hoping for a way to improve life in Baghdad, one found it. Ask 28-year-old Baghdad mother and resident Zahra Hadi about how her life has changed and she'll tell you about her new job.
• Iraq steps closer to consistent electricity Army News Service 25 Aug 2003-- Iraq took one step closer to regaining electrical stability following an Aug. 25 meeting facilitated by the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
• 101st thwarts counterfeiter, rebuilds Mosul Army News Service 25 Aug 2003-- Fort Campbell soldiers are in Iraq making arrests, rebuilding infrastructures and helping Iraq's military force get back on its feet.
• Seabees Bring Supplies, Recreation, Safety to Marine Camp Navy Newsstand 25 Aug 2003-- In the middle of the Kuwaiti desert, surrounded by a series of large cement structures, sits a boxing ring made and designed by four Seabees last month. A set of bleachers sits in front of the ring where hundreds of Marines from One Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) gathered to watch a boxing match recently, during a recreational day the Marines called "Warrior Day."
• Iraq Mission Represents High Stakes in Anti-Terror War AFPS 25 Aug 2003 -- The outcome of U.S-coalition efforts to resuscitate Iraq's economy and help its citizens establish a representative government may mark a turning point in the war against global terrorism, senior U.S. officials said Aug. 24 on Sunday talk shows.
• Two Soldiers Die in Iraq; 101st Confiscates Equipment AFPS 25 Aug 2003 -- Two 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers died Aug. 23 in separate incidents according to U.S. Central Command news releases.
• U.S. Army Division Funds Iraqi Pre-Season Soccer Tournament Washington File 25 Aug 2003 -- The U.S. Army's 101st Air Assault Division donated more than $50,000 to fund a pre-season soccer (football) tournament for six Iraqi professional teams representing provinces throughout Iraq.
• Coalition Shifting Resources to Fight Terrorism Threat in Iraq Washington File 25 Aug 2003 -- The United States and its coalition partners are shifting tactics and resources to meet the emerging and complicated threat of terrorism in Iraq, senior U.S. officials said in a series of television news appearances on August 24.

Deployments

US Policy

• Attacks Reveal the Nature of Terrorism, Bush says AFPS 25 Aug 2003 -- The terrorist attacks in Baghdad and Jerusalem will serve as an added spur in the war on terror, President Bush said during his radio address Saturday.
• PENTAGON/RUMSFELD VOA 25 Aug 2003 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is rejecting calls by some prominent members of Congress for more troops to be sent to Iraq, saying U-S force levels there now are adequate.

United Nations

• UN aid agencies in Baghdad resume some work for first time since bomb blast UN News Centre 25 Aug 2003 -- United Nations humanitarian agencies in Iraq resumed some of their emergency work in Baghdad over the weekend for the first time since a massive truck bomb destroyed the UN headquarters there last Tuesday, killing top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 22 others, and injuring scores more.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: Ethnic Tensions In Northern Region Complicate U.S.-Led Stabilization Efforts RFE/RL 25 Aug 2003 -- At least 12 people have been killed in two days of clashes between Kurds and Turkomans in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
• Iraq: Bomb Attack On Senior Cleric Underscores Political Instability RFE/RL 25 Aug 2003 -- A bomb attack at the house of a prominent cleric in Al-Najaf over the weekend has called new attention to the potentially violent political divides among Iraqi Shi'a organizations. The attack wounded the uncle of the leader of the best-organized Shi'a party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and killed three of his staff.

Foreign Reactions

• U.K.: Blair Prepares To Take 'Hot Seat' At Kelly Enquiry RFE/RL 25 Aug 2003 -- The enquiry into the death of British weapons expert David Kelly is subjecting the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair to some uncomfortable scrutiny. Thousands of pages of freshly released documents -- including private e-mails -- reveal how the government prepared its case for war. The documents' publication comes as Blair readies himself to testify before the enquiry later this week.
• Iraq: Turkey Calls On U.S. To Secure Order In North RFE/RL 25 Aug 2003 -- Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the United States should do its utmost to secure order in northern Iraq in the aftermath of clashes between the Kurdish and Turkoman communities.

News Reports

• SECURITY IN IRAQ VOA 25 Aug 2003 -- In the wake of the bombings of the Jordanian embassy and U-N headquarters in Baghdad, U-S senators of both political parties are questioning the level of troops in Iraq. The Bush administration says there is a sufficient number and is training Iraqis eventually to replace them in handling security. Still, doubts are arising about the cost and extent of the U-S occupation. It will be long, grueling and hindered by inadequate postwar planning, say three veteran analysts of military affairs. But they believe the job can be done with some key changes in strategy.
• Iraq: Thousands Gather For Funerals After Attack On Cleric RFE/RL 25 Aug 2003 -- Thousands of Shi'a Muslims gathered today in the holy city of Al-Najaf for the funerals of the three men killed in an assassination attempt on a leading Shi'a cleric yesterday.
• IRAQ/SHIITE CLERIC VOA 25 Aug 2003 -- In Iraq, thousands of Shi'ite Muslims crowded into the streets of Najaf to bury three bodyguards who were killed Sunday in an attempt on the life of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric. CMany Iraqis are blaming loyalists of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein for the attack.
• INTERNATIONAL HELP IN IRAQ VOA 25 Aug 2003 -- Following the bombing of United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, and other violence, the U-S press is expressing concern over president Bush's Iraq policy. There is a growing cry for more international help, both military and economic, to stabilize and rebuild the country. The papers mostly agree that to get that help, the U-S must surrender some control to the United Nations.
• IRAQ: ICRC scales back as UN agencies proceed with caution IRIN 25 Aug 2003 -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is cutting back its operations in the capital, Baghdad, after being warned that it could also be targeted following last Tuesday's devastating blast at the UN's head office. The number of the ICRC's foreign staff in Baghdad is being reduced to about 50 as violence continues in many parts of the country.