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

Current Operations

• SOLDIERS CONTINUE TO FIND WEAPONS, BUILD RELATIONS CENTCOM Release 17 Nov 2003-- Soldiers from the 82d Airborne Division conducted missions in order to stop violence and violent intentions from insurgents who oppose the peace process Nov. 15.
• 82d ABN DIV SOLDIERS CAPTURE FORMER REGIME LOYALIST CENTCOM Release 17 Nov 2003-- Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division attached to the 82d Airborne Division captured Kathim Mohammad Faris, who is also known as Abu Ka'af, near Habbiniyah Nov. 15.
• Soldiers Foil Illegal Border Crossing, Kill Attackers AFPS 17 Nov 2003 -- U.S. soldiers prevented an illegal border crossing and killed or captured attackers in three weekend incidents, officials at Combined Joint Task Force 7 in Iraq reported today.
• Soldiers Capture Brothers Linked to Attacks on Coalition AFPS 17 Nov 2003 -- With Operation Iron Hammer in full swing around Baghdad and Operation Ivy Cyclone II under way around Tikrit, Baquba, Kirkuk and Balad, U.S. and coalition forces continue to crack down on insurgents in Iraq.
• IRAQ / SADDAM AIDE VOA 17 Nov 2003 -- The U-S military in Iraq says it believes one of Saddam Hussein's closest aides is directly involved in some of the attacks perpetrated against coalition forces.
• Iraq: U.S. Military Changing Tactics To Offset Stepped-Up Attacks RFE/RL 17 Nov 2003 -- The United States has launched a new offensive against anticoalition guerrillas in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit as well as in Baghdad.
• Iraq: U.S. Troops Capture Suspected Resistance Leader RFE/RL 17 Nov 2003 -- U.S. soldiers say they have captured a former Iraqi Special Forces officer and militia leader suspected of staging attacks on U.S. troops.

Deployments

US Policy

• Iraqis Want Exchanges in Agriculture, USDA's Veneman Says Washington File 17 Nov 2003 -- Iraqis working in agriculture want to establish partnerships and exchanges with U.S. agricultural colleges and universities, acquire new technology and gain access to scientific information that can be shared with all of the country's farmers and ranchers, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman says.
• Coalition Will Not Leave Iraq Prematurely, Bush Tells BBC Washington File 17 Nov 2003 -- Iraqis "need to know that we won't leave the country prematurely," said President Bush in an interview with David Frost on BBC TV that was broadcast November 16. "They need to know two things: We're not going to cut and run; and two, we believe they have the capacity to run their own country."
• Iraq's Sovereignty to Be Restored by June 30, 2004 Washington File 17 Nov 2003 -- The Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq (CPA) agreed November 15 on a process to hand over power to a transitional government in Iraq no later than July 2004.
• Bush: U.S. Won't Leave Iraq When Provisional Government Formed Washington File 17 Nov 2003 -- President Bush said November 17 that the United States will not pull out of Iraq when a provisional government is established there.
• BUSH / IRAQ VOA 17 Nov 2003 -- President Bush is reaffirming the U-S commitment to keeping American troops in Iraq even after the country returns to self-rule, now expected by the middle of next year. Correspondent Nick Simeone reports he made the comments during a meeting Monday with a group of Iraqi women leaders at the White House.
• Bush Says Saddam Tape Won't Deter Finishing Job in Iraq AFPS 17 Nov 2003 -- Saddam Hussein's "same old stuff" and "propaganda" won't keep the United States from completing its mission in Iraq, President Bush said here Nov. 16.

United Nations

• U.N. Transferring Oil-for-Food Program to Iraq, CPA Washington File 17 Nov 2003 -- The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq and Iraqi officials will extend the Iraq Oil-for-Food program for the next six months when the United Nations ends its administration of the six-year-old program November 21, a senior CPA official reported November 17.
• Annan welcomes latest US plan but says time not yet ripe for UN return to Iraq UN News Centre 17 Nov 2003 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he was encouraged by the latest United States proposal to accelerate the transfer of power in Iraq to Iraqis, but added the time was not yet right for the United Nations to return its international staff to the country given the security situation.
• U-N / IRAQ VOA 17 Nov 2003 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the United Nations is preparing to play an active role in the transfer of power to a provisional government in Iraq. But as Peter Heinlein reports from U-N headquarters, Mr. Annan admits security concerns may limit the world body's ability to act.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraqi Women Discuss Importance of Their Role During Reconstruction Washington File 17 Nov 2003 -- Seventeen senior women leaders from Iraq, participating in a conference at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington November 13, argued that it is critically important to include women in the building of a new, democratic Iraq.
• Iraq: Citizens Favor Quick Transfer Of Power, But Want Elections RFE/RL 17 Nov 2003 -- The front pages of Baghdad's newspapers today are dominated by news of an agreement reached between the United States and the Iraqi Governing Council to transfer power to the Iraqis by June 2004. Although there has been little editorial comment in the Iraqi media about the development, ordinary Iraqis certainly are discussing the news.
• IRAQ: Focus on emergence of civil society groups IRIN 17 Nov 2003 -- Despite the current level of insecurity, combined with sporadic electricity and virtually no telephone services, more than 120 civil society groups have been established in recent months, according to information gathered from their international counterparts.
• IRAQ: Iraqis returning spontaneously IRIN 17 Nov 2003 -- Increasing numbers of Iraqis are returning to their homeland spontaneously from Iran, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR) in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Foreign Reactions

• U.S. Should Stop Forcing S. Korea to Dispatch Troops KCNA 17 Nov 2003 -- The United States should immediately stop forcing south Korea to dispatch troops to Iraq. Rodong Sinmun says this in a signed commentary today.
• U.S. Pressure for Additional Troop Dispatch to Iraq Rebuffed KCNA 17 Nov 2003 -- The additional troop dispatch to Iraq is not in the interests of south Korea but is aimed to help the U.S. achieve its strategic purpose, says Minju Joson today a signed commentary.
• Khatami says Iraqi people should participate in domestic affairs IRNA 17 Nov 2003 -- President Mohammad Khatami said here Monday that he affirms the Iraq`s Governing Council and believe that it can be a positive force in establishing peace and democracy in the country.
• Iraqi Governing Council chief confers with FM IRNA 17 Nov 2003 -- Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi here on Monday declared Iran`s readiness to help in restoring stability in Iraq and said that Tehran`s policy is based on non-interference in the internal affairs of the war-torn country and its territorial integrity.
• Kennedy to tell Bush that US cannot walk away from Iraq chaos IRNA 17 Nov 2003 -- Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy Monday called for massive anti-war protests to greet President George W Bush on his trip to Britain.
• EU calls on Iraq`s neighbors to help in reconstruction process IRNA 17 Nov 2003 -- EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels Monday called for more meetings of Iraq`s neighbors to help the reconstruction process of that country.

News Reports

• U.K.: High State Of Alert Prevails On Eve Of Bush Visit RFE/RL 17 Nov 2003 -- U.S. President George W. Bush is coming to Britain tomorrow for an official four-day state visit. In more normal times, a visit by Britain's most important ally would be welcomed. With the violent aftermath of the Iraq war, which many Britons opposed, however, the situation is tense. With the additional threat of a terrorist attack, the visit has become a security nightmare.
• The Iraqi Enemy VOA 17 Nov 2003 -- Know your enemy, it is said, but that seems hard to do in Iraq. Striking here and there with little warning, anti-American forces remain hard to define, and estimates of their strength range from 5000 diehard Baathists to 100 thousand well organized guerrilla fighters. Is this a continuing war of indefinite length, as some argue, or a more limited action, as others contend?
• IRAQ: EVEN WITH ACCELERATED TRANSITION, STILL A TOUGH ROAD AHEAD US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign media Reaction November 17, 2003