Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

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

Current Operations

• OIF/OEF Casualty Update 23 May 2007 [PDF]
• MNF-W forces attacked
• Patrol struck by IED
• MND-B patrol receives small arms fire
• Patrol encounters IED attack
• Task Force Lightning Soldiers attacked
• DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
• DoD Identifies Army Casualty
• Weekly press briefing, May 23, 2007 MNF-I 23 May 2007 -- JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE BY MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM B. CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ; AND DR. ALI AL-DABBAGH, SPOKESMAN, GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ
• May 22 airpower: Transports vital to resupply AFPN 23 May 2007 -- Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations May 22, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
• 'Battlefield docs' converge in Iraq to hone skills AFPN 23 May 2007 -- More than 40 "battlefield docs" -- surgeons and physician assistants from around Iraq -- converged at Air Force Theater Hospital May 21 here to hone their already razor-sharp surgical skills at the Tri-Service Extremity War Surgery Symposium.
• Troops Shut Down Terrorist Network AFPS 23 May 2007 -- Coalition forces killed eight terrorists, detained scores of others and confiscated money, weapons and bomb-making materials in various recent operations, military officials reported.
• Soldiers Focus on Finding Missing Comrades AFPS 23 May 2007 -- The soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, Fort Drum, N.Y., are focused on finding their missing comrades and returning them home.
• Aviators, Logistics Soldiers Team Up in Search for Missing Soldiers AFPS 23 May 2007 -- With soldiers spread throughout southern Baghdad searching around the clock for their missing comrades, it comes as no surprise that they need a constant stream of supplies to keep them going.
• Iraqi Police Find Body That May Be Missing US Soldier VOA 23 May 2007 -- Iraqi police have found the body of a man they believe is one of three U.S. soldiers missing since May 12 and believed captured by al-Qaida-linked terrorists.

Deployments

• Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Returns from Deployment Navy NewsStand 23 May 2007 -- Nearly 6,000 Sailors from Eisenhower (Ike) Carrier Strike Group's (CSG) ships and aircraft squadrons returned home May 23 after successfully completing an extended deployment of almost eight months.
• VRC-40 Rawhides Come Home Navy NewsStand 23 May 2007 -- The "Rawhides" of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40 (VRC-40) Detachment (Det.) 3 returned to Naval Station Norfolk on May 21 from a seven-month deployment in support of global war on terrorism.
• "Tigertails" Return to Naval Station Norfolk Navy NewsStand 23 May 2007 -- Family members and friends filled the sky with U.S. flags and applause as four E-2C Hawkeye 2000 aircraft made a fly-by formation entrance to Chambers Field at Naval Station Norfolk May 22 carrying the "Tigertails" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 125 home from a seven-month deployment.
• Stennis, Nimitz and Bonhomme Richard Enter the Persian Gulf Navy NewsStand 23 May 2007 -- The USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Groups and USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) Expeditionary Strike Group entered the Persian Gulf May 23.

US Policy

• US Democrats Vow to Keep Pressure on President Over Iraq VOA 23 May 2007 -- Democrats in Congress backed down this week from their long-standing demand to set a date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq
• More Troops Mean More Contacts With Enemy, Caldwell Says AFPS 23 May 2007 -- The increase in troops in Iraq means more contact with terrorists and extremists in the country, a U.S. general there said today.
• Bush: Victory in Iraq Critical to Long-Term U.S. Security AFPS 23 May 2007 -- Newly declassified intelligence shows that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was planning to establish Iraq as a new base to launch attacks against the United States, President Bush told U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduates today.
• Bush Cites al-Qaida's Effort on Base in Iraq Washington File 23 May 2007 -- Helping Iraqis secure their country is central to winning the war against terrorism, says President Bush, who revealed intelligence that al-Qaida had intended to form a special unit in Iraq to plan future attacks on the United States and its allies.

United Nations

• PRESS CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN IN IRAQ United Nations 23 May 2007
• Iraq: UN envoy holds talks with President of Kurdistan Region UN News Centre 23 May 2007 -- Key political concerns affecting the future of Iraq were discussed during talks between the senior United Nations envoy to the country and the President of the Kurdistan Region, the world body's mission to the country announced today.
• UNICEF Launches Appeal for Iraqi Children VOA 23 May 2007 -- The U.N. Children's Fund says Iraqi children are caught up in a rapidly worsening humanitarian tragedy

Reconstruction Issues

• Transcript: DoD News Briefing with Brig. Gen. Walsh from Iraq 23 May 2007 -- Presenter: Commanding General, Gulf Region Division Army Corps of Engineers Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh and President of the Society of Iraqi Surgeons and Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Dr. Quraish Alkasir
• Eighty Medical Clinics Near Opening in Iraq AFPS 23 May 2007 -- More than 80 much-needed medical clinics are opening across Iraq in the next several months, part of the almost $376 million the U.S. has spent to jump-start health care initiatives there.
• Iraqi Government Considers Adding Security Forces AFPS 23 May 2007 -- The Iraqi government may add as many as 15,000 more troops to its current 348,000-person security force to help decrease the country's dependence on coalition forces, a top U.S. Army officer testified yesterday.
• Iraq Weekly Status Report US Dept. of State 23 May 2007 [PDF]

Foreign Reactions

News Reports

• IRAQ: Aid organisations reaffirm secular, humanitarian principles IRIN 23 May 2007 -- Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have reaffirmed their professional, secular and humanitarian principles after accusations they were "missionaries in disguise". The accusations were that Christian missionaries in Kurdistan have been using aid to entice young Muslims to convert to Christianity.