Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 26 Jan 2004 [PDF]

• Three Missing Following Accidents, One Dead After Combat AFPS 26 Jan 2004 -- One accident appears to have spawned another and three American soldiers are missing near Mosul.
• Five Killed in Iraq's Sunni Triangle VOA News 26 Jan 2004 -- A roadside bomb has killed an Iraqi man as he stepped off a bus in the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, just hours after gunmen killed four Iraqi policemen at a checkpoint in the same area.
• TASK FORCE 1ST ARMORED DIVISION SOLDIERS SWAP SMILES WITH ORPHANS CENTCOM Release 26 Jan 2004-- Even in a hostile environment where the enemy could be just around the corner, nothing will put a smile on a soldier's face more quickly than little kids.
• 4TH ID'S 24-HOUR ACTIVITY CENTCOM Release 26 Jan 2004-- Soldiers from 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse, over the past 24 hours, conducted 172 patrols, six raids and captured 60 individuals. Seventeen of the patrols were joint operations conducted with the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the Border Guard in order to continually improve the safety and standard of living of the Iraqi people.
• 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TOGETHER CENTCOM Release 26 Jan 2004-- Soldiers from the 588th Engineer Battalion working with Iraqi Police raided locations in Ba'qubah during the morning of Jan. 25 and captured 46 individuals.
• WRAP UP OF 4TH ID'S ACTIVITIES CENTCOM Release 26 Jan 2004-- After obtaining information about corruption allegations against the police chief of the town of Tathrib, soldiers from Task Force Ironhorse searched his residence during the afternoon of Jan. 24.

Deployments

• JAPAN / IRAQ / TROOPS VOA 26 Jan 2004 -- Japan's defense chief, Shigeru Ishiba, on Monday ordered the dispatch of ground troops to Iraq for humanitarian duties and reconstruction work. The order came hours after the Japanese government cleared the final political obstacle to the dispatch of troops to Iraq. The decision means Japanese soldiers will be operating in a combat zone for the first time since World War II.

US Policy

• White House Defends Iraq War, Responds to Kay Statements on WMD Washington File 26 Jan 2004 -- The White House January 26 said the removal from power of Iraq's Saddam Hussein justified the Iraq war regardless of whether Hussein's regime possessed banned weapons.
• IRAQ / W-M-D VOA 26 Jan 2004 -- David Kay, the outgoing chief U-S weapons inspector in Iraq says it is not likely that any large stockpiles of banned weapons will be found in Iraq. Mr. Kay has blamed intelligence failures for what he now says is the mistaken belief that Saddam Hussein had chemical or biological weapons.
• Iraq: Powell, Kay Concede WMD Threat Was Overstated RFE/RL 26 Jan 2004 -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has conceded that deposed President Saddam Hussein's regime might not have possessed any banned weapons at the time the U.S.-led coalition launched its war in Iraq last year. Powell's remarks come after David Kay, the retiring chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, said he thinks Iraq probably got rid of its chemical and biological weapons after the first Gulf War.
• Iraq: Washington Says It Has 'Open Mind' On Restoring Sovereignty RFE/RL 26 Jan 2004 -- Under growing pressure to allow direct elections in Iraq, the United States says it has an "open mind" on ways to restore Iraqi sovereignty. Does that mean the U.S. may be willing to ditch plans to turn over authority to Iraqis indirectly and accept direct polls?
• CHENEY / ITALY VOA 26 Jan 2004 -- Vice-President Dick Cheney gave a clear signal the United States wants to strengthen ties with Europe, and defended the U-S led war in Iraq. Speaking in Rome, Mr. Cheney also thanked Italy for its strong support in Iraq.

United Nations

• Annan to decide on election team for Iraq UN News Centre 26 Jan 2004 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to decide early this week if he will send a United Nations team to Iraq to look into the feasibility of holding elections before the end of June as well as possible alternatives.

Reconstruction Issues

• Some Iraqis get hazardous duty pay Army News Service 26 Jan 2004-- Iraqi Civil Defense Corps troops who have been working with Coalition forces are enjoying the benefits of incentive pay.
• IRAQ / DEMOCRACY LESSONS VOA 26 Jan 2004 -- In just over five months the U-S civil administration in Iraq is set to hand back sovereignty to the Iraqis. A long process lies ahead to set up a provisional Iraqi authority, draft a constitution and hold national elections for a permanent government. There is already controversy over how that should be done. The task of bringing democracy to a country that has no democratic roots is daunting.
• 101ST REFURBISHES TEACHING FACILITY CENTCOM Release 26 Jan 2004-- The leaders of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Corps Support Group were among the invited guests at a ribbon cutting ceremony today in the city of Mosul for a teachers' training facility that they helped refurbish.
• IRAQI IMPROVEMENTS CONTINUE WITH HELP FROM TF "ALL AMERICAN" CENTCOM Release 26 Jan 2004-- The 82nd Airborne Division and its subordinate units continued missions Jan. 25 to bring peace and prosperity to the residents of the Al Anbar province.

Foreign Reactions

• TURKEY / ERDOGAN VOA 26 Jan 2004 -- Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says granting greater autonomy for Kurds living in northern Iraq would destabilize the region. The Turkish leader is on a week-long visit to the United States, where he will meet with President Bush to discuss foreign policy issues.
• Germany open-minded towards Int`l Iraq rebuilding conference IRNA 26 Jan 2004 -- The German government said Monday it was open-minded towards a French and Russian proposal for an international conference on Iraq`s political and economic reconstruction.
• Blair `to escape blame over Kelly`s death` IRNA 26 Jan 2004 -- Britain`s top selling Sun newspaper Monday become the second daily to report that Prime Minister Tony Blair was likely to escape blame for the death of former Iraq arms inspector David Kelly.

News Reports

• Iraq: HRW Report Says War Not Justified As Humanitarian Intervention RFE/RL 26 Jan 2004 -- One of the world's leading human rights monitors says the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein cannot be considered a legitimate humanitarian intervention. Human Rights Watch says in its annual report -- released today -- that there was no humanitarian crisis that justified the war in Iraq and that legal ways at undermining Saddam Hussein's regime had not been exhausted. The report also expresses concern over the situations in Afghanistan and Chechnya.