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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 21 Oct 2004 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

• BRITAIN / IRAQ VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- Britain has accepted a U.S. request to move some of its troops in Iraq closer to Baghdad to free up American forces for counter-insurgency operations ahead of Iraqi elections in January.
• 343RD QUARTERMASTER COMPANY COMMANDER RELIEVED OF DUTY CENTCOM 21 Oct 2004 -- The commander of the 300th Area Support Group, with the authorization of the Commanding General of the 13th Corps Support Command, has relieved the commander of the 343rd Quartermaster Company, of her duties, at her {343rd Commander's} request, effective October 21.
• Al-Zarqawi Group Claims It Attacked U.S. Patrol In Iraq RFE/RL 21 Oct 2004 -- The U.S. military continued efforts yesterday to disrupt insurgency in the Iraqi city of Al-Fallujah by bombing two houses that U.S. officials claim belonged to followers of Jordanian-born militant leader Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi.
• 11th MEU EOD sweeping the streets clean USMC News 20 Oct 2004 -- Explosive Ordnance Disposal detachment, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), has gathered more than 400 improvised explosive devices and more than 40,000 enemy unexploded ordnance items -- half of which they destroyed themselves -- since the 11th MEU assumed operational control of An Najaf, Iraq, on July 31.

Deployments

US Policy

• Levin Releases Report on Pre-War Intelligence Office of Senator Carl Levin 21 Oct 2004 -- Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released a report today of an inquiry he initiated on June 27, 2003 and conducted by the SASC Minority Staff.
• Department of Defense Statement Regarding The Levin Minority Report 21 Oct 2004 -- The Levin report appears to depart from the bipartisan, consultative relationship that exists between the Department of Defense and the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Department cooperated carefully with Senator Levin's investigation, knowing that Senator Levin might decide, as he did, not to seek a unanimous -- or at least bipartisan -- report.
• CONGRESS - IRAQ VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- A key Senate Democrat is accusing the U.S. Defense Department of exaggerating the threat from Iraq to justify the war.

• Powell Voices Support for Iraq's Election Plan Washington File 21 Oct 2004 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United States is supporting Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's efforts to hold national elections by the end of January 2005 and is urging the United Nations to do more to help organize the elections.
• ARMY STAFF SGT. SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS CENTCOM 21 Oct 2004 -- The court martial of Staff Sergeant Ivan L. Fredrick concluded here at about 4:15 p.m. today. Staff Sgt. Fredrick pled guilty to and was found guilty of conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assaulting a detainee and committing an indirect act.
• FREDERICK COURT MARTIAL VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- The highest ranking U.S. soldier to be implicated in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal has pleaded guilty to abuse charges and has been sentenced to eight years in prison. It was the longest sentence handed down so far the on-going investigation into the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the hands of American soldiers.

United Nations

• UN/Volcker/Oil for Food VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- The independent panel investigating the Iraq oil-for-food program has appealed for public help in identifying entities that may have profited illegally from oil sales. The inquiry is still in an early stage.
• UN / ANNAN / IRAQ VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says January elections are still possible in Iraq, as the interim Baghdad government has promised. Mr. Annan suggested he would soon dispatch more staff to assist with election preparations.
• January elections in Iraq still 'technically possible,' Secretary-General says UN News Centre 21 Oct 2004 -- Elections scheduled for next January in Iraq are still "technically possible" but security must improve in order for the United Nations to be able to send in more personnel to help with the planning, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
• UN/ANNAN/OIL FOR FOOD VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says he is worried about the damage being done to the world body by the Iraq Oil-for-Food scandal.
• Iraq: Fijian Forces To Protect Some UN Officials, But More Troops Needed RFE/RL 21 Oct 2004 -- UN officials have confirmed that a contingent of soldiers from Fiji will protect senior UN officials in Iraq in the first major commitment of troops to UN security outside the U.S.-led coalition. In the absence of any other major commitment, the UN is also discussing further protection from U.S. forces. The announcements come amid new calls from Iraqi officials for a greater UN commitment to preparing for national elections slightly more than three months away.

Reconstruction Issues

• Reserve Division to Teach Iraqi Security Forces AFPS 21 Oct 2004 -- More than 700 members of an Army Reserve training division are moving into Iraq to help train local security forces.
• Iraq Says UN Not Helping Enough For January Elections RFE/RL 21 Oct 2004 -- Iraq's foreign minister today complained that the United Nations isn't helping enough with preparations for Iraq's January 2005 elections.
• IRAQ: New school repair project starts in the south IRIN 21 Oct 2004 -- Work has started on repairing 200 schools in southern Iraq as part of a US $79 million project to renovate more than 1,000 schools across the country under the supervision of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
• IRAQ: Turkoman struggle for rights could cause ethnic tensions in north IRIN 21 Oct 2004 -- In a country of mixed religions and cultures the Turkoman are< searching for rights equal to those they see given to Arabs and Kurds, but political disagreements over land could fuel tensions in the north where all three groups live.

Foreign Reactions

News Reports

• Iraqi Media Monitoring UNAMI 21 Oct 2004
• IRAQ / HOSTAGE VOA 21 Oct 2004 -- The husband of abducted international aid worker Margaret Hassan is appealing for her release. He says he has not heard from the kidnappers who commandeered his wife's car two-days ago in Baghdad.