Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 24 Aug 2004 [PDF]
• SOLDIER KILLED IN RPG ATTACK IN BAGHDAD
• ONE SOLDIER DEAD IN VEHICLE ROLLOVER
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

• IRAQ / NAJAF VOA 24 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi troops have moved within a few hundred meters of the Imam Ali Shrine in the city of Najaf. The defense minister says he will order them to storm the mosque if the militants inside do not surrender soon. The battle for control of Najaf has gone on for nearly three weeks, and has taken a heavy toll on the civilian population of the city.
• IRAQ WRAP VOA 24 Aug 2004 -- Iraqi forces in Najaf have taken up positions near the holy shrine that Shi'ite militants have occupied for nearly three weeks. Two Iraqi ministers escape assassination attempts in Baghdad. Iraqi insurgents have released an American journalist they held hostage but another group holding an Italian journalist has threatened to kill him if Italy does not pull out its troops.
• STILL IMAGES SHOW MILITIA MORTAR POSITION NEAR NAJAF SHRINE CENTCOM 24 Aug 2004 -- Evidence of a complete mortar system set up by Muqtada Militia forces on the eastern sidewalk of the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf was recorded in video footage shot by a Multi-National Force aircraft Monday.
• Air Strike Near Fallujah Targets Foreign Terrorists AFPS 24 Aug 2004 -- Multinational Force Iraq conducted a precision aerial attack shortly after midnight today on anti-Iraqi forces near Fallujah, according to a Coalition Press Information Center news release.
• Separate Attacks Kill Two Soldiers, Wound Three Others AFPS 24 Aug 2004 -- Two U.S. soldiers were killed and three others were wounded Aug. 23 in two separate attacks in Iraq.
• U.S., Iraqi Forces Reinforce Positions In Al-Najaf RFE/RL 24 Aug 2004 -- News agencies are reporting that in Al-Najaf, Iraqi National Guardsmen have been deployed along U.S. troops positioned near the Imam Ali shrine, where Shi'ite militants fighting U.S. forces have been holed up for weeks.
• Two Iraqi Ministers Survive Attacks RFE/RL 24 Aug 2004 -- Two Iraqi Ministers Survive Attacks 24 August 2004 -- Iraq's environment and education ministers were both unharmed in two separate attacks on their respective convoys in Baghdad today, as fighting continues in the holy city of Al-Najaf.

Deployments

US Policy

• Transcript: Press Conference with Members of the Independent Panel to Review Department of Defense Detention Operations 24 Aug 2004 -- Former Secretary Of Defense Harold Brown; Former U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler (R-Fl); General Charles A. Horner, Usaf (Retired); Former Secretary Of Defense James R. Schlesinger
• Independent Panel to Review DoD Detention Operations August 2004 [PDF 5.71 Mb]
• Independent Panel Delivers Detention Operations Report 24 Aug 2004 -- The members of the Independent Panel to Review DoD Detention Operations briefed Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld this morning as they delivered their final report.
• Secretary Rumsfeld Statement on Independent Panel Report 24 Aug 2004 -- I appreciate the work of the distinguished members of the Detention Operations Review Panel. The panel was chaired by Dr. James Schlesinger. Its members were Dr. Harold Brown, The Honorable Tillie Fowler and General Chuck Horner (retired).
• Panel Cites Direct, Indirect Responsibility for Abu Ghraib AFPS 24 Aug 2004 -- Abu Ghraib prison was "chaos," said members of the Independent Panel to Review DoD Detention Operations today, but commanders on the ground and up the chain of command should have recognized the problems and corrected them.
• U-S / IRAQ / ABUSE VOA 24 Aug 2004 -- A new report says the U-S Defense Department's most senior civilian and military officials share a portion of the blame for the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq. The finding was issued Tuesday by an independent panel

United Nations

• Iraq: top envoy discusses UN role in rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts UN News centre 24 Aug 2004 -- The top United Nations envoy for Iraq, continuing his first visit to the country' since his appointment last month, today discussed the world body's role in reconstruction and development efforts with senior officials of the Interim Government.

Reconstruction Issues

• IRAQ: Focus on rebuilding universities in north IRIN 24 Aug 2004 -- “If you want to change this country for the better”, Dr Kemal Khoshnaw, president of Sulaymaniyah University, told IRIN, "you have to start with the educational system.”

Foreign Reactions

News Reports

• Iraq: Olympic Soccer Team Inspires Nation, Rebuffs Bush RFE/RL 24 Aug 2004 -- Politics, war, terrorism -- what's all that compared to soccer? The surprising success of the Iraqi Olympic soccer team has injected a major dose of joy into a nation wracked by military occupation, ethnic and religious divisions, kidnappings, and suicide bombings. Tonight, millions of Iraqis will crowd around televisions to watch their team take on Paraguay in a bid to reach the football final. But the Iraqi team refuses to be used for political purposes -- either at home, or as propaganda for the reelection campaign of U.S. President George W. Bush.
• Lawyers Want Rumsfeld To Testify In Abu Ghurayb Case RFE/RL 24 Aug 2004 -- A lawyer for a U.S. soldier accused of abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghurayb prison says his team wants U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to testify at their client's military trial.
• IRAQ: Palestinian refugees find temporary accommodation IRIN 24 Aug 2004 -- Palestinian refugee Farha Selim and her family are back in a rented apartment with running water and sporadic electricity after living in a tent on a soccer field for more than a year.