Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 18 Oct 2005 [PDF]
• TWO MARINES KILLED NEAR AR RUTBAH
• SOLDIER DEATH IN KUWAIT
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
• TASK FORCE FREEDOM SOLDIER KILLED

• U.S. Soldier Dies in Mosul; 15 Insurgents Detained AFPS 18 Oct 2005 -- A Task Force Freedom soldier was killed by small-arms fire in Mosul, Iraq, early today, military officials reported.
• Night raids nab terror suspects in Baghdad Army News 18 Oct 2005 -- Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces captured 15 suspected terrorists in a series of pre-dawn combat operations conducted in and around Baghdad Oct. 18.
• Task Force Liberty Soldiers detain one in Bayji MNF-I 18 Oct 2005 -- Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained the driver of a suspicious vehicle encountered during a combat patrol in Bayji Oct. 17.
• Bombers, weapons dealer caught by Iraqi, U.S. forces MNF-I 18 Oct 2005 -- Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces captured 15 suspected terrorists in a series of pre-dawn combat operations conducted in and around Baghdad Oct. 18.

Deployments

US Policy

• State's Jeffrey Calls Iraqi Referendum "Great Day" for Democracy Washington File 18 Oct 2005 -- A senior Bush administration official says the constitutional referendum that took place in Iraq October 15 was a "great day" for democracy and the Iraqi people and "a very bad day for the terrorists who tried to disrupt the voting."

United Nations

Reconstruction Issues

• Top US Diplomat Says UN Checking Iraqi Referendum Results VOA 18 Oct 2005 -- A top U.S. diplomat says officials from the United Nations are checking results from Iraq's constitutional referendum for compliance with internationally accepted standards.
• Iraq Begins Probe Into 'Unusually High' Vote Count VOA 18 Oct 2005 -- Iraqi election officials are investigating what they say are "unusually high" numbers of "yes" votes in about 12 provinces from Saturday's referendum on a new constitution.
• Iraqi Vote Count Delayed A Few Days RFE/RL 18 Oct 2005 -- Iraq's electoral commission says results from the country's 15 October referendum on the draft constitution will be delayed for "several more days" as it rechecks ballots because of "unusually high numbers" in some provinces.

• Former Iraqi Premier To Form Moderate Party RFE/RL 18 Oct 2005 -- Iraq's former prime minister Iyad Allawi and other secular leaders have announced a new coalition to run in parliamentary elections in December.

• Trial Of Saddam Hussein, Co-Defendants Set To Begin RFE/RL 18 Oct 2005 -- Saddam Hussein and seven associates go to court on 19 October in a trial that is expected to be the first of many charging the former Iraqi leader with crimes against humanity and could have great significance for hundreds of thousands of victims of the former Ba'athist regime.
• Saddam Hussein Faces Mass Murder Trial VOA 18 Oct 2005 -- Iraq's long-time dictator Saddam Hussein is to go on trial Wednesday for mass murder, the first of what is expected to be several indictments of the deposed president and senior officials of his regime
• Iraq: Human Rights Watch Fears Justice May Not Be Served By Saddam's Trial RFE/RL 18 Oct 2005 -- The much-awaited trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and seven of his associates is due to start in Baghdad tomorrow. But on the eve of the proceedings, Human Rights Watch has issued a report casting serious doubt on the impartiality of the court and whether the Iraqi legal code -- in its current form -- can guarantee a fair trial.

• IRAQ: Universities recruit 5,000 teaching staff from Iraqis living abroad IRIN 18 Oct 2005 -- The Iraqi government has announced plans to recruit 5,000 qualified teaching staff for the country’s colleges and universities from Iraqis living abroad to fill vacancies and halt a decline in academic standards.

Foreign Reactions

• Iran Petitions Iraq On Hussein Charges RFE/RL 18 Oct 2005 -- Iran has asked the Baghdad court set to try Saddam Hussein to charge the former Iraqi leader with crimes from the Iran-Iraq war, such as his use of chemical weapons.

News Reports

• IRAQ: Women and children killed in US air strikes on Ramadi, doctor says IRIN 18 Oct 2005 -- Two days of US air attacks against insurgents in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi have caused heavy casualties among the city’s civilian population, a doctor and a senior Iraqi government official in Ramadi said.