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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 21 Apr 2004 [PDF]

• Tension forms when Soldiers take down posters of Al-Sadr Army News Service 21 Apr 2004-- Engineers from Fort Hood avert a possible riot after taking down posters of anti-coalition cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
• IRAQ SITREP VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- At least 68 people have been killed by a series of car bombs in Iraq's southern city of Basra in the deadliest terrorist attack there since the fall of Saddam Hussein. An agreement aimed at ending fighting between insurgents and U-S Marines in the western Iraqi town of Fallujah appears to have been short lived.
• Basra Car Bombings Kill 38 Civilians, Injure 98 AFPS 21 Apr 2004 -- A series of terror bombings in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today killed 38 civilians while wounding 98, according to a senior U.S. military officer.
• IRAQ / SECURITY VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- A series of suicide bombings tore through the southern Iraqi city of Basra Wednesday, an area that has been relatively peaceful compared to the more volatile areas around Baghdad. Wednesday's coordinated attack targeted four police stations.
• IRAQ SITREP VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- At least 68 people have been killed by a series of simultaneous car bombs in Iraq's southern city of Basra in the deadliest terrorist attack there since the fall of Saddam Hussein. An agreement aimed at ending fighting with U-S Marines in the western Iraqi town of Fallujah appears to have been short lived.
• Apparent Suicide Attacks Kill 68 In Southern Iraq RFE/RL 21 Apr 2004 -- Four explosions have killed at least 68 people in Al-Basrah and a suburb of that city in southern Iraq today.

Deployments

• Central American Troops Make Important Contribution in Iraq Washington File 21 Apr 2004 -- Nearly 1,000 Central American soldiers have made important contributions to reconstruction and security efforts in Iraq, while representing their respective nations with distinction and making favorable impressions on their coalition counterparts, according to U.S. officials.

US Policy

• SENATE/IRAQ TERRORISM VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- A top U-S counter-terrorism official says he expects insurgents and terrorists in Iraq will do everything they can to attack U-S forces in the weeks leading up to the scheduled transfer of sovereignty on June 30th.
• CONGRESS / IRAQ VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- The recent increase in violence in Iraq has some analysts calling for more U-S troops to be sent to the country and expressing concern about the planned handover of power to an interim Iraqi government June 30th. The analysts appeared (today / Wednesday) before the U-S Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
• BUSH / IRAQ TERRORISM VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- President Bush says democracy is both necessary and possible in Iraq. Mr. Bush also spoke out Wednesday about terrorism and Iran's nuclear ambitions.
• PENTAGON/IRAQ VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- With more terrorist bombings in Iraq, a top Pentagon official says a shadowy group of highly-trained, former Iraqi intelligence agents loyal to Saddam Hussein is playing a key role in the current insurgency, especially in bomb attacks.
• U.S. Won't 'Cut and Run' From Iraq, Bush Says AFPS 21 Apr 2004 -- The United States is not going to "cut and run" from Iraq, President Bush told newspaper editors here today.
• Iraq/U.S.: Negroponte Choice Seen As Reinforcing Importance Of UN Role RFE/RL 21 Apr 2004 -- UN Ambassador John Negroponte's appointment as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, one of the top U.S. diplomatic posts in the world, signals an appreciation of his skills, as well as an acknowledgment of the importance of UN relations. In less than three years as top envoy to the UN, Negroponte has navigated through numerous thickets, none more difficult than Iraq. He is expected to draw deeply on that experience as he helps guide Iraq's political transition.
• BUSH / IRAQ / POLLS VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- Despite a difficult last few weeks in Iraq and continuing questions about how and why the Bush administration took the country to war there, the president's public approval ratings have gone up in two recent polls.

United Nations

• PRESS CONFERENCE BY PAUL VOLCKER, NAMED TO HEAD PANEL INVESTIGATING ‘OIL-FOR-FOOD’ PROGRAMME United Nations 21 Apr 2004
• U-N/OIL FOR FOOD VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- The U-N Security Council has unanimously approved an independent investigation of the scandal-plagued Iraq oil-for-food program. Former U-S Central Bank chief Paul Volcker will head the probe.
• Security Council voices hope that UN envoy on missing Kuwaitis can go to Iraq UN News Centre 21 Apr 2004 -- Stressing the importance of resolving the fate of Kuwaitis and others missing since Iraq's 1990 invasion, members of the Security Council today voiced hope that a United Nations envoy dealing with the issue could soon pursue his work in Baghdad.
• ANNAN/IRAQ REACT VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan says the latest bombings in and around Basra will affect his thinking about the return of U-N staff to Iraq.

Reconstruction Issues

Foreign Reactions

• BUSH SPEECH ON IRAQ: 'STEADFAST' TO SUPPORTERS, 'CLUELESS' TO CRITICS US Dept. of State IIP, Foreign Media Reaction 21 Apr 2004
• SPAIN / U-S VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- Spain's foreign minister says his country's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq in no way signals a retreat from the larger war on terrorism.
• Poland Reportedly Weighing Iraq Withdrawal RFE/RL 21 Apr 2004 -- Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller said today that Poland is considering the possibility of withdrawing its troops from Iraq.
• BRITAIN/IRAQ VOA 21 Apr 2004 -- There has been swift condemnation from the British government of the devastating car bomb attacks that left at least 68 dead and scores injured in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
• Western Press Review: Iraq's 30 June Deadline, Al-Jazeera, And The Arab World's View Of U.S. Policies RFE/RL 21 Apr 2004 -- A review of the items up for debate in the major news dailies today finds discussion of Al-Jazeera, the Arab world's premier satellite news channel, and a broader consideration of how the Arab world views the United States and its policies. Some analysts also urge the U.S. administration to face the realities that threaten to scuttle the 30 June deadline for a transfer of power in Iraq.

News Reports

• Iraq: As Violence Sweeps Country, Kurdistan Remains Calm -- But Wary RFE/RL 21 Apr 2004 -- At a time when violence is raging in the west and south of Iraq, Kurdistan remains relatively peaceful. Kurds say they would like it to stay this way. But they are worried that growing instability elsewhere in Iraq may eventually cost them their autonomy.
• IRAQ: Women's shelter to open in protected Baghdad location IRIN 21 Apr 2004 -- US officials plan to open a new shelter for women who are victims of domestic and other forms of violence - the first of its kind in the capital, Baghdad.