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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Jul 2005 [PDF]
• SOLDIER KILLED BY VBIED NEAR ISKANDARIYAH
• ONE TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIER KILLED BY IED NEAR BALAD
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• ONE TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIER KILLED, TWO WOUNDED BY IED
• MARINE DIES FROM NON-HOSTILE INCIDENT
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

• Iraqi Police working with Coalition Forces uncover large weapons cache MNF-I 18 Jul 2005 -- Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces from Task Force Freedom seized a large weapons cache, detained eight suspected terrorists, and killed five terrorists during operations in northern Iraq July 17 and 18.
• Operation Warrior's Rage snares dozens of terrorists MNF-I 18 Jul 2005 -- On the evening of July 15, elements of the 256th Brigade Combat Team and 6th Iraqi Army Division successfully detained targets in their areas of operation through cordon-and-search operations and combat patrols.
• Suspected bomber detained in Samarra MNF-I 18 Jul 2005 -- Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained one individual in Samarra after an improvised explosive device detonated in front of their combat patrol July 18.
• Iraq Car Bombings Leave 22 Dead RFE/RL 18 Jul 2005 -- A series of car bombers struck across Iraq yesterday, leaving at least 22 people dead.
• Coordinated Efforts Net 39 Suspects in Iraq AFPS 18 Jul 2005 -- Iraqi and U.S. forces established a joint/combined operations center to develop intelligence and track operations during a series of missions July 15, military officials in Baghdad, Iraq, said.
• Soldier Killed by IED near Balad; Car Bomb Kills 4, Wounds 10 AFPS 18 Jul 2005 -- One Task Force Liberty soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device at about 10 a.m. July 17 near Balad, Iraq, military officials in Iraq reported.
• Two Soldiers Killed, But Coalition, Iraqi Forces Preventing More Attacks AFPS 18 Jul 2005 -- Two American soldiers in Iraq were killed by improvised explosive devices July 16.

• 400 days and out: A strategy for resolving the Iraq impasse, Project on Defense Alternatives Briefing Memo #34, 19 July 2005 - The United States could safely withdraw almost all its forces from Iraq within a year or so without further destabilizing the country, according to a 19 July proposal by the Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA), a US-based think-tank. Progress toward that end requires a significant political compromise with the Sunni community and with Iraq's neighbors, however. By 14 months, there would be only 2,000-3,000 US troops left in Iraq to participate in multinational military training and monitoring missions, commanded by NATO and under a three-year UN mandate.

Deployments

US Policy

• Defense Department Report, July 18: Iraq Update Washington File 18 Jul 2005 -- Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will go on trial soon for his alleged role in the 1982 massacre of citizens in Dujail, site of a failed attempt to assassinate him.
• Experts Discuss Iraq Security Challenges with US Senate VOA 18 Jul 2005 -- A U.S. Senate panel is holding three days of hearings into Iraq this week. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee began the first hearing Monday with a look at security issues
• White House Report, July 18: Iraq, North Korea Washington File 18 Jul 2005 -- IRAQIS TO CONTROL TRIAL; NO U.S. AID TO ELECTION CANDIDATES / PYONGYANG URGED TO BE "PREPARED TO MOVE FORWARD" AT TALKS

United Nations

• International donors' conference on Iraq opens with UN urging greater flexibility UN News Centre 18 Jul 2005 -- Representatives of more than 60 countries and international organizations opened a two-day meeting in Jordan today to review the progress of donor-financed reconstruction in Iraq, with a senior United Nations official calling for greater flexibility in tailoring aid to the country's needs as the Iraqis themselves see them.
• Iraq: in face of 'heinous' suicide attacks, Annan urges peace, unity, democracy UN News Centre 18 Jul 2005 -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today condemned the recent wave of suicide bombings in Iraq as "heinous attacks" and called on all Iraqis to build a united, democratic and prosperous Iraq through peaceful means.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraqi Official Says Countrymen Cannot Achieve Liberty Alone AFPS 18 Jul 2005 -- "The Iraqi people cannot achieve their liberty and democracy by themselves alone. They need the support of the United States," the inspector general of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said during an interview here.
• Saddam Hussein to Face Trial Soon, Iraqi Officials Say AFPS 18 Jul 2005 -- Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will soon go to trial, a senior Iraqi judge said during a July 17 news conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Iraqis Mixed On Whether To Hold Quick Saddam Trial VOA 18 Jul 2005 -- The announcement that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could be brought to trial as early as September, has triggered a mixed response, with some Iraqis, including victims of Saddam's brutal rule, advocating a postponement.
• Iraq: First Criminal Case Filed Against Saddam Hussein RFE/RL 18 Jul 2005 -- Iraq's Special Tribunal, empowered to try war crimes, yesterday announced the first charges against former President Saddam Hussein and three others. They are accused of organizing the killing of some 145 people in the village of Al-Dujayl in 1982. This is not the bloodiest of Saddam's alleged crimes.
• Iraq Seeks Antiterror Pact With Neighbors RFE/RL 18 Jul 2005 -- Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Solagh has said that Iraq will discuss plans for a regional antiterrorism agreement at an international meeting of interior ministers tomorrow in Istanbul.

Foreign Reactions

• Rafsanjani stresses establishment of security in Iraq IRNA 18 Jul 2005 -- Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani here Sunday stressed the importance of establishing security in Iraq and meeting basic needs of its nation.
• EU underlines strong support to the transitional government in Iraq IRNA 18 Jul 2005 -- The Council of European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels Monday reaffirmed its ''strong support'' for the Iraqi Transitional Government (ITG) and for the priorities set out by Prime Minister Ibrahim Ja'afari.
• EU financial support to Iraq's constitutional process IRNA 18 Jul 2005 -- The European Commission announced Monday that it is providing 20 million euro in support of the Iraqi constitutional process.

News Reports

• Neighborhood Militias Proposed in Iraq VOA 19 Jul 2005 -- In the wake of last week's multiple suicide attacks in Iraq, as many as 50 lawmakers in the Iraqi National Assembly have called for neighborhood militias to take over local security duties from the Iraqi police and army
• Iran-Iraq oil pipeline to become operational next year IRNA 18 Jul 2005 -- Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh here Monday said that the construction of pipeline intended to transfer oil from Iran to Iraq, whose agreement was signed 10 months ago, is already underway and is expected to be implemented within a year.
• Iran/Iraq: As Senior Visit Concludes, Deals Signal Increased Cooperation RFE/RL 18 Jul 2005 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'fari today ended a landmark visit to Iran that outgoing Iranian President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami hailed as a turning point in relations between their neighboring countries.
• RFE/RL Iraq Report, Volume 8, Number 23 18 Jul 2005 -- BLURRED LINE BETWEEN TERRORISM AND HONORABLE RESISTANCE IN IRAQ / CAN BAGHDAD PROTECT FOREIGN MISSIONS? / EUROPE PROVING TO BE GROWING BASE FOR AL-QAEDA / RFI INTERVIEWS INTERIOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL ON REPORTS OF CORRUPTION / KUWAITI ENVOY SAYS IRAQI WAR COMPENSATION SHOULD CONTINUE