Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 07 Dec 2004 [PDF]
• MARINE DIES IN MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifes Army Casualty
• SOLDIER KILLED IN INSURGENT ATTACK

• VP AND SECDEF VISIT COALITION TROOPS IN AFGHANSTAN CENTCOM 07 Dec 2004 -- ---Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited coalition forces deployed to Bagram Airfield before attending the Afghanistan Presidential Inauguration in Kabul today.
• FIRST ID SOLDIERS CAPTURE SEVEN IN BAYJI AREA RAID CENTCOM 07 Dec 2004 -- 1st Infantry Division Soldiers captured seven individuals in a raid conducted near Bayji at about 7 p.m., Dec. 6.
• TASK FORCE DANGER SOLDIERS DETAIN 4 AIF SUSPECTS CENTCOM 07 Dec 2004 -- Task Force Danger Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 252nd Armor Regiment detained four individuals Dec. 6, at about 4 a.m., who are suspected of being members of an anti-Iraqi forces cell in the village of Quiya.
• 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION SOLDIERS DISCOVER TRUCK LOADS OF MUNITIONS CENTCOM 07 Dec 2004 -- First Infantry Division Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment discovered several weapons caches hidden in palm groves near Baqubah on Dec. 6 at about 7:00 a.m.
• IRAQI POLICE OFFICERS JOIN WITH FIRST TEAM FOR OPERATION CENTCOM 07 Dec 2004 -- A joint U.S.-Iraqi cordon-and-search operation in three Al Rashid District neighborhoods netted several weapons and 20 suspected insurgents Dec. 5.
• Behind the scenes, surgical unit treats Fallujah's casualties USMC News 07 Dec 2004 -- As Marines are stamping out remaining pockets of insurgents in Fallujah, a different battle is being fought here - the battle to save lives.
• RAID PUTS 'SERIOUS DENT' IN TERRORIST EFFORTS IN BAGHDAD CENTCOM 07 Dec 2004 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers conducted a raid on a sports complex at 4 p.m., Dec. 6 in eastern Baghdad, capturing several suspected senior level transnational terrorists, including key leaders, operatives, and financiers.
• First ID Soldiers Detain 7, Discover 3 IEDs In Raid MNF-I/MNC-I 07 Dec 2004 -- 1st Infantry Division Soldiers detained seven individuals in a raid conducted just after 10 p.m. Dec. 6.

Deployments

• Mobile Security Detachment Returns from Persian Gulf Navy NewsStand 07 Dec 2004 -- Mobile Security Det. (MSD) 21 returned home Dec. 7, completing a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf.

US Policy

• U.S./IRAQ WARNING VOA 07 Dec 2004 -- The Bush administration said Tuesday it is not trying to minimize the seriousness of the Iraqi insurgency. The comments follow news accounts of a Central Intelligence Agency report warning that the security situation in Iraq is deteriorating.
• BUSH IRAQ VOA 07 Dec 2004 -- President Bush says Iraqis can expect more violence ahead of next month's planned election, but he says the U.S. military will help ensure that vote takes place as scheduled. Mr. Bush spoke to U.S. Marines Tuesday at a base in California.

United Nations

• UN/ANNAN/RESIGNATION VOA 07 Dec 2004 -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is planning to carry on in his job, despite calls by some U.S. lawmakers and news organizations for his resignation. Several world leaders are rallying to the Secretary-General's defense, amid allegations of corruption in the Iraq oil-for-food program.

Reconstruction Issues

• U.S., Iraqi Agents Apprehend Weapons Smugglers in Iraq Washington File 07 Dec 2004 -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working with their Iraqi counterparts have detained at the Iraqi border more than 40 terrorists arming insurgents inside the country, says CBP.
• Iraq: Shi'a Create Formidable Unified List For January Poll RFE/RL 07 Dec 2004 -- Iraqis are due to go to the polls on 30 January to elect a new National Assembly. The National Assembly will choose a new interim government and appoint a body to write the country's first post-Saddam Hussein constitution. Ahead of the vote, hundreds of Iraqi parties are jockeying to form alliances to improve their chances of winning seats. Now, one of the biggest coalitions to date has emerged -- a United Iraqi Alliance endorsed by preeminent Sh'ia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Its organizers officially announced yesterday that it will field 240 candidates for the National Assembly, saying the list represents "the birth of a new, democratic, and just Iraq."
• Iraq Offers Russia 'Leading Role' In Reconstruction RFE/RL 07 Dec 2004 -- Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi today told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will be given a "leading role" in the reconstruction of Iraq in return for its decision to cancel thousands of millions of dollars of debts.epresents "the birth of a new, democratic, and just Iraq."
• IRAQ: Focus on getting children back to school IRIN 07 Dec 2004 -- Children walking home from school in the quiet Jadriya neighbourhood in southern Baghdad say they’re frightened by how violent their country is these days.

Foreign Reactions

• Russia Casts Public Doubt On Iraqi Elections RFE/RL 08 Dec 2004 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting today with Iraq's interim prime minister that he "cannot imagine" how free and fair elections could be held as planned in Iraq, given the fact that the country is under what Putin called total occupation by foreign troops.
• RUSSIA / IRAQ VOA 07 Dec 2004 -- At a Kremlin meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi he has doubts about how elections can be held under current security conditions in Iraq. The Iraqi leader is now on a three-day visit to Russia.

News Reports

• Iraqi Media Monitoring UNAMI 07 Dec 2004
• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 7, Number 44 07 Dec 2004 -- IRAQI GROUPS DEBATE ELECTION POSTPONEMENT / INTERIM GOVERNMENT DENIES MEETING BA'ATHISTS IN JORDAN / KURDISH PARTIES ANNOUNCE JOINT ELECTORAL LIST / WEBSITE REPORTS 180 POLITICAL PARTIES REGISTERED FOR ELECTIONS / PIPELINE ATTACKS COST GOVERNMENT $7 BILLION / WEBSITE REPORTS EMBEZZLEMENT SCHEME IN AL-NAJAF / MILITANTS CONTINUE TO INTIMIDATE MOSUL RESIDENTS / KARBALA POLICE CATCH WOULD-BE BOMBER AT CENTRAL PRISON / WEAPONS, BOMB-LADEN CARS UNCOVERED IN BAGHDAD MOSQUE RAID / IRAN HOSTS MEETING OF IRAQ'S NEIGHBORS / UN TO OPEN ELECTION-MONITORING CENTER / MYSTERY OF MISSING EXPLOSIVES SOLVED? / U.S. SENDING ADDITIONAL TROOPS AHEAD OF ELECTIONS
• IRAQ: Newspapers, Kurdish-prison style IRIN 07 Dec 2004 -- Articles on why UN Security Council members should have their veto rights taken away, a treatise on the progress of democracy in the Middle East. They wouldn't look out of place in the central pages of Le Monde, if not the New York Times.