Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 06 Apr 2005 [PDF]
• TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIER KILLED IN AMBUSH
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment hit the streets in Mamum MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Apr 2005 -- Soldiers from A Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, conducted a routine presence patrol and checked up on public works in Mamum, a northeastern section of Baghdad on March 23.
• USS Carl Vinson F/A-18s Strike Insurgents in Iraq Navy NewsStand 06 Apr 2005 -- Strike fighter aircraft from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9, flying from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Persian Gulf, attacked an enemy insurgent location east of Baghdad, Iraq, April 4.

Deployments

• Navy Cargo Handlers Return from Deployment Navy NewsStand 06 Apr 2005 -- Nearly 200 Navy Reservists mobilized by Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force (NAVELSF) returned to Norfolk April 2.

US Policy

• Bush Congratulates New Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Washington File 06 Apr 2005 -- President Bush extended his congratulations to Iraq's newly selected President Jalal Talabani and his two deputy presidents, Adil Abd al-Mahdi and Ghazi Ajil al-Yawer, in a statement issued April 6, shortly after Iraq's National Assembly agreed on the positions.

United Nations

• Annan congratulates new Iraqi president; offers UN help in writing constitution UN News Centre 06 Apr 2005 -- Congratulating Iraq's new President Jalal Talabani on his election today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today stressed the need for national unity, a goal the United Nations has been seeking with redoubled resolve since elections in January, and pledged the world body's help in writing a constitution that cements reconciliation.

Reconstruction Issues

• IRAQ PRESIDENT VOA 06 Apr 2005 -- Iraq's parliament has elected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the country's new president, choosing a member of the long-repressed minority to be head of state. The assembly also chose two vice-presidents: outgoing president Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni, and interim Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shi'ite.
• Iraq: Choice Of Parliamentary Speaker Reveals Sunni Discord RFE/RL 06 Apr 2005 -- Sunnis successfully nominated fellow parliamentarian Hajim al-Hassani as speaker of the National Assembly on 3 April. The choice followed several days of internal friction and disagreements with the Shi'ite-led United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) over a Sunni candidate. Such friction suggests a growing fissure between mainstream Sunnis and the Muslim Scholars Association, a group that claims to represent some 3,000 mosques in Iraq.
• Iraqi Parliament Elects President, Vice Presidents RFE/RL 06 Apr 2005 -- Iraq's new National Assembly today elected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani to be the country's president.
• Iraqi Assembly Elects Talabani President RFE/RL 06 Apr 2005 -- Weeks of deadlock gave way to political compromise today as Iraq's new parliament approved Kurd Jalal Talabani as the country's president, with Sunni and Shi'ite choices to fill two vice-presidential posts.
• Iraq: Presidential Choice Is Landmark For Kurds RFE/RL 06 Apr 2005 -- The Iraqi National Assembly elected Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) head Jalal Talabani to be the country's new president on 6 April. Talabani's rise is a milestone in the history of Iraq's long oppressed Kurds.
• Al Anbar Soldiers to train at Kirkush MNF-I/MNC-I 08 Apr 2005 -- Approximately 700 former Iraqi National Guard Soldiers from Al Anbar Province will commence basic combat training here at the Kirkush Military Training Base on April 12

Foreign Reactions

• ELECTION OF JALAL TALABANI AS IRAQI PRESIDENT IS LEGITIMATE - MARGELOV RIA Novosti 06 Apr 2005 -- Chairman of the Federation Council international committee Mikhail Margelov thinks the election of Jalal Talabani as the president of Iraq is a legitimate and wise decision.

News Reports

• IRAQ / PRESIDENT VOA 06 Apr 2005 -- Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani (PRON: jah-LAHL tah-lah-BAH-nee), the newly-elected president of Iraq, says the government must now defeat the bloody insurgency and improve security.
• Iraqi Media Monitoring UNAMI 06 Apr 2005