Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 14 Dec 2005 [PDF]
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty

• CENTAF releases airpower summary AFPN 14 Dec 2005 -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released today's airpower summary report.
• Task Force Baghdad Soldiers nab 28 suspected terrorists MNF-I 14 Dec 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division detained 28 suspected terrorists in two separate incidents during continuous operations south of Baghdad Dec. 8-9.
• U.S. Soldiers find bomb in house, detain 4 terrorists MNF-I 14 Dec 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad Soldiers discovered a house containing an improvised explosive device and detained four suspected terrorists in separate incidents Dec. 10 as U.S. forces continued operations designed to ensure a safe environment for the upcoming national elections.
• Baghdad Quiet On Eve Of Vote RFE/RL 14 Dec 2005 -- Streets in Baghdad are quiet one day before the 15 million eligible Iraqis cast ballots for their homeland's first full-term parliament since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
• U.S. Soldiers Nab 43 Suspects South of Baghdad AFPS 14 Dec 2005 -- Task Force Baghdad soldiers detained 43 suspected terrorists during recent operations conducted to ensure a safe environment for Iraq's upcoming national elections, military officials in Baghdad reported today.
• Gunners Pull Counterinsurgency Missions in Baghdad AFPS 14 Dec 2005 -- Duty in densely populated Baghdad doesn't call for the need for firing a lot of 155 mm shells.
• Iraqi, Coalition Officials Put Election Plan in Place AFPS 14 Dec 2005 -- Iraqi and coalition officials are implementing the plan to ensure safety for Iraqi voters in the country's historic Dec. 15 election, in which Iraqis will elect their first permanent democratic government.
• Iraqi, Coalition Forces Capture Terrorists, Seize Weapons AFPS 15 Dec 2005 -- Iraqi Army troops and coalition forces captured 11 insurgents and seized six caches Dec. 13 in operations southeast of Baqubah, Iraq, military officials reported today.
• “Big Stick” Reaches Halfway Point of Persian Gulf Deployment Navy NewsStand 14 Dec 2005 -- USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, has marked the first half of a six-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and maritime security operations (MSO) in the Persian Gulf.
• "Black Lions" Reach Halfway Point of Deployment Navy NewsStand 14 Dec 2005 -- The “Black Lions” of Fighter Squadron (VF) 213 reached the halfway point of their current deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Maritime Security Operations in December.

Deployments

US Policy

• President Discusses Iraqi Elections, Victory in the War on Terror The White House 14 Dec 2005
• Bush Hails Iraqi Vote VOA 14 Dec 2005 -- President Bush says elections for a new Iraqi assembly are an important milestone on the country's road to democracy.
• Bush: Leaving Iraq Too Soon Would Endanger America AFPS 14 Dec 2005 -- Leaving Iraq before the mission there is finished will make America less, not more, secure and will send a dangerous message that will ring around the world, President Bush said today here at the Woodrow Wilson International Center.
• Bush Calls Iraqi Elections Historic Time for Iraq, the World AFPS 14 Dec 2005 -- The Dec. 15 parliamentary elections in Iraq represent "a watershed moment in the story of freedom" that's important not only to Iraq's security and democratic future, but also to America's, President Bush said today at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars here.

• Democrats Demand More Information From Bush on Iraq Strategy VOA 14 Dec 2005 -- Senate Democrats have sent President Bush a letter urging him to detail U.S. strategy in Iraq following Thursday's elections.
• U.S.: Rice Presses For More Global Support Of Iraqi Democratization Effort RFE/RL 14 Dec 2005 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has welcomed growing international support to secure Iraq's transition to democracy.
• Bush to Deliver Last in a Series of Speeches on Iraq VOA 14 Dec 2005 -- President Bush Wednesday delivers the last in a series of speeches about his strategy for success in Iraq ahead of Thursday's elections for a new Iraqi assembly.
• US Lawmakers Stress Importance of Strong Turnout in Iraq Election VOA 14 Dec 2005 -- Key Democrat and Republican lawmakers are looking ahead to Thursday's election in Iraq, saying Iraqis need to move toward political compromise and unity even as they continue to fight the insurgency with the help of the United States.
• State's Fried Urges Europe To Support Fully Iraq's New Government Washington File 14 Dec 2005 -- A U.S. diplomat is calling on Europe to fully support the next elected government of Iraq.

United Nations

• United Nations Urges Iraqis To Vote Peacefully in Elections Washington File 14 Dec 2005 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all Iraqis to exercise their democratic right to vote in historic legislative elections for a permanent government and appealed for an end to violence.
• Annan urges Iraqis to vote peacefully as first step towards building democracy UN News Centre 15 Dec 2005 -- On the eve of Iraq's elections, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the country's people to go to the polls in a peaceful manner and pledged the world body's support.

Reconstruction Issues

• Iraq Weekly Status Report State Dept. 14 Dec 2005 [PDF]
• Iraq: Kurd Factions Struggle To Achieve Unity RFE/RL 14 Dec 2005 -- In an effort to maximize their voice in Baghdad, Iraq's largest Kurdish parties are running as a coalition in the 15 December parliamentary elections.
• Iraqi Officials Deny Forged Ballots Seized at Border VOA 14 Dec 2005 -- Iraq's interior minister on Wednesday denied a report by his own ministry that a tanker truck filled with forged ballot papers was seized a day earlier near Iraq's border with Iran.
• Iraq: Voting Begins In Key Parliamentary Elections RFE/RL 14 Dec 2005 -- Iraqi expatriates have already started voting in parliamentary polls that many see as a watershed event.
• Iraqi Shi'a Demonstrate Against Al-Jazeera RFE/RL 14 Dec 2005 -- Thousands of demonstrators protested in Baghdad and some Shi'ite cities today over comments in an Al-Jazeera television discussion program that they said insulted Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
• Iraqi Soldiers exercise right to vote Army News 14 Dec 2005 -- Iraqi Soldiers northwest of Baghdad voted three days before the country's national elections, freeing them for duty Dec. 15.
• Iraqis in U.S. Cast Votes for Iraq's National Parliament Washington File 14 Dec 2005 -- An estimated 240,000 Iraqis living in the United States are eligible to vote in their country's landmark December 15 elections, and have the chance to participate -- albeit from a distance -- via absentee ballots.
• Iraqi Elections Mark Beginning of New, Unified, Stable Iraq Washington File 14 Dec 2005 -- Legislative elections in Iraq December 15 mark the beginning of a new, unified and stable Iraq, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes says.
• IRAQ: Optimism high as preparations for national elections continue IRIN 14 Dec 2005 -- Expectations of a high turnout in tomorrow's national elections remain high, as preparations for the contest continue countrywide.
• IRAQ-SYRIA: Expatriates begin voting IRIN 14 Dec 2005 -- Iraqi expatriates turned out in large numbers at makeshift polling stations in the capital, Damascus, to vote in Iraqi parliamentary elections.

Foreign Reactions

News Reports

• IRAQ: NGO calls for accurate civilian death toll IRIN 14 Dec 2005 -- A Washington-based humanitarian organisation urged the US government this week to accurately count and identify all civilian casualties of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, following a recent announcement by US President George Bush that 30,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed to date.