Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 06 Apr 2004 [PDF]

• IRAQ WRAP VOA 06 Apr 2004 -- U-S military officials say as many as a dozen Marines may have been killed when Iraqi insurgents attacked their position in the town of Ramadi late Tuesday -- after a day of battles between American forces and Shiite militias in other parts of the country as well. As many as 100 Iraqis have also been reported killed after three days of some of the worst fighting in Iraq in months.
• TWELVE DETAINED IN RAID CENTCOM Release 06 Apr 2004-- 1st Infantry Division soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery conducted a raid near Baqubah April 6 at about 4:45 a.m. to capture the leader and members of a insurgent cell.
• Coalition Forces, Iraqis Suffer Losses In Clashes RFE/RL 06 Apr 2004 -- Coalition troops clashed with insurgents throughout Iraq today, on a third day of violence sparked by protests in support of an influential Shi'ite Muslim cleric.
• U.S. Forces Conducting Raids in Fallujah AFPS 06 Apr 2004 -- U.S. forces have been conducting raids in Fallujah and have captured a number of high-value targets, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in Norfolk, Va., today.
• Four Marines, Three Soldiers Killed in Iraq AFPS 06 Apr 2004 -- Four Marines with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed April 5 as a result of enemy action while conducting security and stabilization operations in Iraq's Anbar province, a Combined Joint Task Force 7 news release reported today.
• RUMSFELD / IRAQ VOA 06 Apr 2004 -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says U-S soldiers have surrounded the Iraqi city of Fallujah in an effort to crush the insurgency there after last week's slaying and mutilation of four American civilians.
• Reserve Marines bring civilian skills to OIF II fight Marine Corps News 06 Apr 2004-- In a world where time is money and the business market waits for no man, how do you keep your clients happy when you have to leave them for an unspecified amount of time?

Deployments

US Policy

• U-S / IRAQ CLERIC VOA 06 Apr 2004 -- The Bush administration says the June 30th transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi interim government will proceed as planned despite what it termed the "thuggery" of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his militia followers. U-S officials insist the rebel cleric does not have a wide following among Iraq's majority Shiite community.
• LUGAR / IRAQ VOA 06 Apr 2004 -- Given the recent brutal killings of American contractors in Fallujah and the latest attacks by armed Shiite groups in Baghdad, I asked him if he was concerned about what might happen in the weeks ahead as preparations continue for the June 30th handover of power to the Iraqis.

United Nations

• Brahimi holds second day of talks with Iraqis on UN role in political transition, elections UN News Centre 06 Apr 2004 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, today met with another round of Iraqi officials as he continues to seek their ideas about United Nations assistance with the formation of an administration to take over from the United States-led occupation forces on 1 July and with preparations for elections early next year.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq: security concerns interrupt UN refugee agency's return convoys from Iran UN News Centre 06 Apr 2004 -- Recent security incidents and tensions in southern Iraq have prompted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to temporarily interrupt its thrice-weekly convoys carrying refugees back from Iran, a spokesman for the agency said today.
• IRAQ: Refugee returns to south continue IRIN 06 Apr 2004 -- Another 500 Iraqis were assisted in returning from Iran on Monday as part of a continuous flow of returnees from the Islamic Republic this year.

Foreign Reactions

• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 06 Apr 2004 -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has condemned Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as a fanatic whose militia should be disbanded. Mr. Blair discussed the latest violence in Iraq with the country's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari.

News Reports

• Alleged Tape By Al-Zarqawi Threatens Attacks In Iraq RFE/RL 06 Apr 2004 -- A man claiming to be a senior Al-Qaeda figure today released an audiotape threatening more attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
• Iraq: Unrest Sparks New Debate Over U.S. Strategy RFE/RL 06 Apr 2004 -- As coalition forces seek to crack down on new waves of violent resistance to the U.S.-led authority in Iraq, the unrest is having political repercussions around the globe. In the United States, it has sparked new debate over whether Washington can turn over power to a sovereign Iraqi government by 30 June. And in Europe, Madrid is hardening its demands for the United Nations to take charge in Iraq if Spanish troops are to remain beyond this summer.
• Iraq: Could U.S. Have Acted Differently To Prevent Recent Violence? RFE/RL 06 Apr 2004 -- U.S. and other coalition forces in Iraq have long had to contend with bloody resistance from Saddam Hussein loyalists and other insurgents, much of it centered in the restive "Sunni Triangle" north and west of Baghdad. For the most part, there has been little trouble from Iraq's Shi'a. But the arrest of an aide to the outspoken Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr led to a violent response by his followers over the weekend. Dozens of Iraqis and at least nine coalition soldiers have died in the clashes. Now, an arrest warrant has been issued for al-Sadr himself. Did the coalition wait too long to crack down on the cleric, or should it have cracked down at all?