Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• 10 US Troops, Dozens of Iraqi Insurgents Killed in Fighting VOA News 18 Apr 2004 -- Ten U.S. troops and dozens of insurgents have been killed in combat across Iraq, including five U.S. Marines killed in a day-long battle near the Syrian border.
• U.S. Troops Poised Against Al-Sadr Near Al-Najaf RFE/RL 18 Apr 2004 -- About 2,500 U.S. combat troops were poised today on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city of Al-Najaf. Radical militia leader and Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and thousands of his militia fighters were sheltering in the city, and tensions were high.

Deployments

• SPAIN / IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2004 -- Spain's new prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, says he intends to withdraw Spain's 13-hundred troops from Iraq as soon as possible. The new prime minister wasted no time in making the decision.
• Spain to Withdraw Iraq Troops as Soon as Possible VOA News 18 Apr 2004 -- In a surprise announcement Spain's prime minister has said he plans to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq as soon as possible.

US Policy

• Insurgents Going 'to Any Lengths' to Stop Iraq's Progress, Myers Says AFPS 18 Apr 2004 -- Former regime elements and radical elements in Iraq will "clearly go to any lengths" to halt progress toward democracy, said Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard Myers on CNN's "Late Edition" today.
• Violence Won't Stop Iraqi Power Turnover AFPS 18 Apr 2004 -- It was probably predictable that insurgents would try to prevent the transfer of power to Iraqis on June 30, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said on ABC's "This Week" today.
• Violent Minorities Will Not Thwart Iraq's Future, Bremer Says Washington File 18 Apr 2004 -- Iraq's "future of hope" will not be derailed by the acts of violent minorities, Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Administrator Paul Bremer promised April 18.
• RICE IRAQ VOA 18 Apr 2004 -- President Bush's National Security Advisor says the United States will not negotiate with hostage-takers holding Americans in Iraq.

United Nations

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraqi Interim Defense Minister Appoints Three Top Generals Washington File 18 Apr 2004 -- Iraq Interim Minister of Defense Ali Allawi April 18 announced the appointment of the three top generals in the Iraqi Armed Forces, according to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
• New Iraqi Air Force Achieving "Real Military Capability," CPA Says Washington File 18 Apr 2004 -- Significant progress has been made in restoring the Iraqi Air Force to "real military capability" and in establishing it as "the foundation of a modern air force," according to a fact sheet released by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) April 17.

Foreign Reactions

• JAPAN/IRAQ HOSTAGES VOA 18 Apr 2004 -- Three Japanese, freed from a week of captivity in Iraq, have returned home. The two men and one woman were tight-lipped amid government and public criticism in Japan that they were reckless in attempting to take a taxi from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad.

News Reports