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Operations
Deployments
US Policy
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Reconstruction Issues
Foreign Reactions
News Reports

Current Operations

• TASK FORCE IRONHORSE, IRAQI POLICE NET WEAPONS CACHES CENTCOM Release 24 Sept 2003-- Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor, 4th Infantry Division discovered a weapons cache Sept. 21 consisting of 19 - 82mm mortar systems southeast of Bayji.
• Marines Hand Over Reins to Spanish Marine Corps News 24 Sept 2003-- The last Marine battalion in southern Iraq is finally returning home.
• Abizaid: Iraqi Forces Assisting Security/Stabilization Efforts AFPS 25 Sept 2003-- In coming months, more new Iraqi civil defense forces will be assisting U.S. troops in security/stabilization efforts in that country, the U.S. Central Command chief told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee here today.

Deployments

• 100 SOLDIERS FROM 13TH COSCOM UNIT RETURN TO FORT HOOD EARLY FRIDAY MORNING III Corps Release 24 Sept 2003-- Approximately 100 soldiers from the 418th Transportation Company of the 13th Corps Support Command will return to Fort Hood early morning on Sept. 26 after serving seven months in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

US Policy

• As Long as It Takes US Dept. of State 24 Sep 2003 -- Op-Ed by Secretary Colin L. Powell
• U.S. Goal is International Consensus on Iraq, Official Says Washington File 24 Sept 2003-- The overall aim of the U.S. effort to get a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq is to achieve an international consensus on the whole political process in Iraq, a senior U.S. official said September 24.
• Rumsfeld Says Proposed Funds Needed for Security, Stability in Iraq Washington File 24 Sept 2003-- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress September 24 that a Bush administration supplemental budget request of $87 billion is essential for the security of the United States and to ensure stability in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the Middle East.
• RUMSFELD / CONGRESS VOA 24 Sept 2003-- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has urged Congress to approve President Bush's 87-billion-dollar budget request for Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Rumsfeld says the money is needed as an investment in international security
• CONGRESS /IRAQ CABINET VOA 24 Sept 2003-- Two members of the cabinet appointed by Iraq's Governing Council have been making the rounds in Washington, meeting with members of Congress, U-S officials, and the media. One of them, the only woman serving in the Iraqi cabinet, spent time (Wednesday) with a group of U-S congresswomen
• IRAQ WRAP VOA 24 Sept 2003-- Bush administration officials faced a day of tough questioning Wednesday from skeptical members of Congress during hearings into the White House request for nearly 90 billion dollars to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
• BREMER/CONGRESS VOA 24 Sept 2003-- The head of the U-S provisional administration in Iraq, Paul Bremer, returns to Capitol Hill Thursday to face more tough questions from lawmakers concerned about the amount of money Americans are being asked to spend in Iraq. Ambassador Bremer appeared before House and Senate committees on Wednesday, where he tried to assure lawmakers that new money Congress approves will be spent wisely and efficiently.
• APOSTOLOU-IRAQ VOA 24 Sept 2003-- Mr. Andrew Apostolou, Director of Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, discusses the Bush administration's efforts to seek the United Nations support in rebuilding Iraq during the UN General Assembly meetings
• Powell-Iraq VOA 24 Sept 2003-- Secretary of State Colin Powell mounted a diplomatic blitz at the United Nations Wednesday for a U-S-backed draft Security Council resolution that would broaden the U-N role in peacekeeping and the political transition in Iraq. U-S officials are confident of getting the resolution through the council but are making no predictions about a timetable

United Nations

• UN: No Breakthroughs Apparent On Iraq, Despite Bush Appeal In Assembly RFE/RL 24 Sep 2003 -- The first day of high-level discussions at the annual UN General Assembly debate yielded no signs of a common approach on Iraq's political transition. The U.S. and French presidents -- chief rhetorical opponents on the Iraq war -- held cordial but inconclusive talks. U.S. President George W. Bush stressed the need for an orderly transfer of power, while French President Jacques Chirac warned that delays could weaken the legitimacy of the effort.
• BUSH / U-N VOA 24 Sept 2003-- When President Bush spoke at the United Nations this week, it was his first appearance before the world body since the U-S-led invasion of Iraq
• UN/Iraq/U-S VOA 24 Sept 2003--The leaders of Iraq's interim Governing Council, who are in New York for the annual meeting of the General Assembly, are denying reports of a rift with the United States over a timetable for self-rule

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: Millions Of Children Receiving Immunizations RFE/RL 24 Sep 2003 -- Some 3.5 million Iraqi children were vaccinated this week in a campaign organized by Iraq's Health Ministry, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the World Health Organization.
• Iraq: Governing Council Appears United In Seeking Rapid Transfer Of Sovereignty RFE/RL 24 Sep 2003 -- The issue of when sovereignty in Iraq can be transferred to local authorities has become an important one for the U.S. in its relations with countries like France and Germany, which favor a rapid transfer of power. Now the U.S. is also coming under pressure from within Iraq, from members of its own U.S.-appointed Governing Council. Analysts say that while the council still remains divided on some key issues, it appears united on the issue of transferring at least some authority to local Iraqis as rapidly as possible.
• IRAQ ARTS VOA 24 Sept 2003-- It has been nearly six months since the fall of Saddam Hussein and Iraqis are still struggling to regain some sense of normalcy in their lives. Basic services, like food, water and electricity are slowly beginning to return and there is an interim Iraqi government. Efforts to revive Iraq's once vibrant cultural life are also underway
• Water Resources Top Agenda for Iraq's Ministry of Public Works Washington File 24 Sept 2003-- Iraqi Minister of Public Works Nasreen Berwari revealed details of her ministry's plan to restore Iraq's drinking water and sewage treatment infrastructure during a September 24 press briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center following her meetings with President Bush and senior U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) officials earlier in the week.
• OPEC / IRAQ VOA 24 Sept 2003-- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has unexpectedly cut oil-production quotas
• Bremer Urges Senators to Pass Supplemental Quickly AFPS 24 Sept 2003-- The $87 billion supplemental request for Iraq and Afghanistan should be seen in the same light as the Marshall Plan following World War II, said Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L. Paul Bremer.
• Iraqi Public Works Minister Thanks U.S., Seeks Continued Support AFPS 24 Sept 2003-- Nasreen M. S. Berwari is thankful the United States led the effort to free her country from one of the most brutal governments in history.
• Rumsfeld: Plan to Win the Peace in Iraq Will Succeed AFPS 25 Sept 2003-- The plan to win the peace in Iraq will succeed, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld wrote in a Washington Post column today.
• IRAQ: Millions to remain in need of food aid despite better harvest IRIN 24 Sep 2003 -- Millions of Iraqis will remain dependant on food aid for some time, despite a better harvest and the lifting of sanctions, a report released by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

Foreign Reactions

• Iraq could become center for Islamist terror: German secret service IRNA 24 Sep 2003 -- The head of Germany`s foreign intelligence service BND warned that Iraq could become a safe haven for Islamist terrorists, the website of the weekly Spiegel magazine reported Wednesday.
• Pak opposition against sending troops to Iraq under US, UN IRNA 24 Sep 2003 -- The combined opposition in Pakistan on Wednesday opposed the `government plan` to send troops to Iraq under the United States command.
• Iraq: Romanian Foreign Minister Says His Country Sets Example For Reconstruction RFE/RL 24 Sep 2003 -- Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana today said his country's transition to democracy provides a good example of what to expect in Iraq.
• BUSH / REACT / EUROPE VOA 24 Sept 2003-- President Bush's appeal Tuesday at the United Nations for international assistance for Iraq has met a largely cool reception in Europe. Many newspapers and some politicians suggested that his remarks had fallen flat
• Bush, Schroeder Say Differences on Iraq Are Over Washington File 24 Sept 2003-- President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said after their meeting in New York September 24 that their differences on Iraq are over.
• PAKISTAN-U-S-IRAQ VOA 24 Sept 2003-- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says his country will help in the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq, if there is a United Nations mandate to do so. Mr. Musharraf addressed the U-N General Assembly after a bilateral meeting in New York with President Bush

News Reports

• Iraq: Governing Council's Ban Of Some Arab TV Sparks Debate On Freedom RFE/RL 24 Sep 2003 -- Should freedom of the press be curtailed during times of war? That question has arisen in Iraq where the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council yesterday banned the Arab satellite television stations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiyah from covering Council activities for two weeks, saying the networks incited violence against the U.S. occupation and its supporters.
• Bush Meets with Leaders of Germany, Pakistan, India Washington File 24 Sept 2003-- A senior U.S. official said September 24 in New York that President Bush believes he "did what he needed to do" during his annual visit to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA).
• IRAQ: Human Rights report is a wake up call, says HRW IRIN 24 Sep 2003 -- A new survey on human rights in Iraq, published by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has been described by another watchdog group as a "wake-up call" for the international community.