The following news stories reflect the current public rumblings dealing with the possible invasion of Iraq.  Those preceded with "Item Number" are from the Periscope email news summaries -- a clipping service dealing with items of interest in geopolitical and military events.

July through August 2002

September 2002

October 2002

The following table is taken from the MILNET report: Analysis of U.N. Resolution 1441-2002
 

Date	Event	Reaction on Failure
November 15,  2002	Iraq must Respond to Resolution	Security Council will meet to decide on U.N. Response. DONE: Letter to Kofi Annan on Wednesday, 11/13/02
November 18, 2002	Expected day Inspectors arrive in Iraq	DONE, IAEC rep and UN's UNMOVIC rep arrived with technicians to bring up abandoned UN site HQ in Iraq.
December 8,  2002	Iraq must document all WMD and delivery system programs	Security Council will meet to decide on U.N. Response NOTE: Key point - If Iraq does not declare any nuclear, bio or chemical weapons, U.S. will insist Iraq has made a "material breach", and go to war. Look for inspectors to return immediately if Iraq declares "no weapons". Also, the declaration must include delivery systems, and this includes new and old SCUDs or derivatives, and many expect Saddam to deny their existence.
December 15, 2002	U.N. Inspectors must have begun inspections	Security Council will meet to decide on U.N. Response
February 15,  2002	U.N. Inspectors report on inspection program	Security Council will meet to decide on U.N. Response

U.S. eases demands as Iraq deal nears, MSNBC Online, 11/01/2002.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 1 —  Following a suggestion from a top weapons inspector, the United States was likely to change its proposed U.N. resolution to give Iraq more time to declare oil industry-related chemicals that may have military applications, diplomats said. News of the concession emerged as negotiators for the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council edged close to agreement on how to inspect and disarm Iraq.

       BUT WASHINGTON will stick to its 30-day deadline for Iraq to divulge to the U.N. Security Council its weapons of mass destruction programs, a key part of the draft resolution that toughens arms inspections and warns of “serious consequences” if Baghdad fails to comply.
       The U.S. revision Friday was a response to suggestions by chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, who said Iraq would have trouble declaring chemicals and other materials that could have “dual use” — military and civilian applications — in its extensive oil-related industries within the 30-day deadline.
       The diplomats told Reuters that the United States had agreed to extend the 30-day deadline to 50 days for Iraq’s civilian chemical and biological materials, such as those used in medicines.
       The proposed U.S.-British resolution says failure by Iraq to make a full declaration on time and interference in the inspections could amount to “material breach” of the 1991 Persian Gulf War cease-fire pact, a legal basis for war.
       The United States wants a vote next week in the Security Council within 48 hours after it presents a revised resolution, but delays are normal in the 15-nation body.

       To be adopted, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no veto from the five permanent council members, which Washington believes it has now achieved. But abstentions from permanent members France, Russia and China would send a signal to Iraq that the council is bitterly divided.

COMPROMISE CLOSE
       Consequently, Washington is still engaged in complex talks with France, whose position has widespread support in the United Nations. But the latest wording appears to bring the two nations closer to agreement.
       France, as well as Russia, fears “hidden triggers” that would allow Washington to go to war, overthrow Saddam Hussein and then claim the United Nations had authorized it.
       The United States has suggested several so-called “firewall” formulas that would commit Washington to wait until chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix reports any serious violations to the council. France has argued that the council should decide which violation was serious enough to be called a “material breach.”

U.S. Ready to Submit Revised Iraq Resolution, MSNBC Online, November 6, 2002

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration will submit to the U.N. Security Council by Wednesday morning a revised resolution that would force Iraq to disarm, Fox News has learned.

Sources at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations told Fox News that they: "Expect to introduce the final draft resolution tomorrow morning."

A diplomatic source told Fox News the U.S. has French approval for its resolution and the language on material breach has not changed.

A U.S. official confirmed that Secretary of State Colin Powell has convinced the French to agree to the new U.S. text. The U.S. is not 100 percent sure what the Russians will do and the Chinese are not expected to be a problem — probably an abstention.

After the draft is introduced, expected to take place around 10:30 a.m., a vote is to take place in the Security Council within 48 hours. This means that the vote on the resolution could take place on Friday.

Even though the proposed revision contains some changes to reflect the views of other nations, it does not handcuff President Bush, an official said.

Bush has been seeking U.N. authority for the United States to threaten Iraq with force if it should refuse to disclose its chemical and biological weapons to international inspectors. He had run into serious resistance on the Security Council.

Armed with authorization of Congress, Bush approached the United Nations in September against the backdrop of disagreement among his senior advisers. Some did not think he should ask the Security Council but should act on his own or with countries that stood behind the United States in disarming Iraq.

Bush, in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, challenged the United Nations to insist on Iraqi compliance with a string resolutions over more than a decade. He said the world organization risked irrelevance if it refused the U.S. demands.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal has broad council support. Powell worked out some of the final points during a telephone conversation with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, the official said.

An administration official said the resolution, the product of six weeks' intense debate, takes into account the views of the United States and other council members.

"It makes clear that Iraq is in material breach [of prior resolutions]," the official said. Earlier, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher spoke of "growing support in the council for a strong resolution that makes clear to Iraq that it has failed to comply in the past, that it needs to comply with a tough inspection regime, that there'll be serious consequences if it doesn't."

Powell also conferred during the day with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and three foreign ministers, Igor Ivanov of Russia, Jorge Castaneda of Mexico and Joschka Fischer of Germany.

The text has been revised to reflect protracted diplomacy involving France, Russia and other Security Council members that object to threatening war against Iraq if it should refuse to disarm or to cooperate with weapons inspectors.

At the United Nations, a French diplomat said late Tuesday that, because Paris has not seen the text, "it's too early to say we have an official position. ... We must send it to Paris and our government, including the president, will have a careful look at the entire text."

After voting Tuesday in Crawford, Texas, President Bush ignored a reporter's question about whether he thought a compromise resolution was near.

There was a signal toward movement from a former opponent of the draft resolution that the administration hopes will clear the way to act with the support of the United Nations against Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Castaneda, whose country is on the Security Council and has strongly supported the Russian and French positions, said late Monday he believes the revised draft will be approved by 14 of the 15 Council members — with Iraq's Arab neighbor Syria abstaining.

On Tuesday, however, Castaneda clarified that his prediction was based on a consensus having been made among the major powers.

"Mexico would prefer to vote in favor of a previously agreed-upon consensus," the foreign minister said in a television interview. He said if the major powers had reached no agreement, however, "Mexico probably would abstain along with other countries."

Powell, in an interview with European newspapers, said Monday: "We will know early on whether or not Iraq is intending to cooperate or not to cooperate."

Apparently skeptical that President Saddam Hussein would go along with U.N. demands, Powell said Iraq has tried to tie the United Nations in knots "and to force the U.N. to play the same game that Iraq always wins at." Whether Iraqi defiance will lead to war remains to be seen, Powell said.

"That judgment, really, is in the hands of the U.N., the United States, like-minded nations and ultimately whether Iraq is going to come into compliance with international law or not," he said.

"Frankly, if the U.N. doesn't step up to its responsibilities in this regard, I think it is the U.N. that will look bad, not the United States."

The administration has taken preliminary steps for war with Iraq, and on Tuesday, Powell met with Foreign Minister Hamdan bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan of the United Arab Emirates.

Boucher said the United States has a strategic relationship with that Arab country, but Powell did not ask for use of its facilities in the event of war with Iraq.

Still, the spokesman said, "The strategic relationship is one of cooperation in many, many areas of security."

Fox News' Jim Angle, Teri Schultz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 7 —  The Security Council will vote Friday morning on a revised resolution on Iraq, the United Nations announced Thursday, after the United States and France came to an eleventh-hour agreement on a U.S.-proposed plan to give Iraq a last chance to disarm or face war. It was still not clear whether Russia — which along with France has been wary of so-called “hidden triggers” leading to a U.S. war against Baghdad without further input from the Security Council — would vote in favor of the resolution or abstain.

      CONFIDENT OF WINNING approval, the United States revised its final document to get Russia and others on board and send a united message to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
       President Bush had pushed for a vote on Friday, calling Saddam “a real threat” and declaring that “it’s now time for the world to come together and disarm him.”
       In a revised draft given to council members Thursday evening, U.S. officials dropped a controversial phrase about who would declare Iraq in “further material breach” — words that could trigger war — and France then signed on to the text, diplomats said.
       Language in another key paragraph was also changed to account for Russian concerns of a second hidden trigger.
       The United States introduced the revised resolution late Thursday to try to address concerns of council members, said Richard Grenell, spokesman for U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte.
       Each of the five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, Russia, France, China and the United States — has the power to veto the draft.

      Britain has worked with the United States throughout the drafting of the resolution plan for tough new weapons inspections, coupled with a threat of “serious consequences” if Iraq fails to cooperate. Thursday’s agreement between the United States and France removed a key hurdle toward passage of the U.S.-drafted plan.
 

      Ideally, the United States would prefer yes votes from Russia, France and China rather than abstentions. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said the way to send a strong message to Iraq is through council unity.
       But Russia had not signaled whether it would vote in favor or abstain. President Vladimir Putin spoke to Bush on Thursday.
       China’s Foreign Ministry said it had noted improvements in the new draft, but it also did not say whether China would endorse it.
       “On the whole, we believe the new resolution takes into consideration some of the concerns and worries of other countries,” spokesman Kong Quan said.

‘WHEN,’ NOT ‘IF’
       Even so, the revisions nudged the draft toward almost certain passage.
       The chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said he was confident that his team would be back in Iraq soon after a nearly four-year absence, and he said a resolution supported by all 15 council members “strengthens our hand.”

      At the White House, Bush was clearly prepared for victory. Twice during a wide-ranging news conference Thursday, the president referred to passage as an issue of “when,” rather than “if.”
       “When this resolution passes, I will be able to say that the United Nations has recognized the threat and now we’re going to work together to disarm him,” Bush said of Saddam. “And he must be cooperative in the disarmament.”
       China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Zhang Yishan, the current Security Council president, said Thursday that the 15 members were “getting closer” to agreement and that if negotiations continued on their current track “the sunlight of unity is about to come.”

BRITISH VIEWPOINT
       Speaking to a group of reporters in London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also said the 15 members of the Security Council were “very close” to agreement
       Straw said he and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had reassured Beijing, Paris and Moscow that there was no “hidden trigger” in the resolution and that the United States and Britain would return to the Security Council before taking any military action.
       But Straw cautioned that if Saddam did not comply with the resolution and the United Nations delayed in its response, London and Washington were prepared to act alone.

       “We would prefer that military action be taken with U.N. approval, but we may not be in that position,” Straw said.
       Under the current draft, Saddam would have seven days to notify Annan in writing of his acceptance. “You would have to be pretty dumb not to send that letter,” said Straw, who characterized Saddam as “a liar and a cheat, but not stupid.”
       Anticipating Iraqi complaints that it would take longer than the U.N. resolution allows — 30 days — to give a full accounting of Baghdad’s weapons, Straw said, “The time-scales are perfectly adequate for full compliance.”

U.S. MILITARY BUILD-UP
       Meanwhile, NBC’s Tammy Kupperman reported from Washington that the United States has been quietly and steadily sending equipment to the Persian Gulf region as part of a buildup for a possible war.
       Part of the buildup could be seen Thursday in Norfolk, Va., where a Dutch-flagged cargo ship was docked as it prepared to ferry Army equipment to the gulf. The ship, which is expected to set sail Friday, has landing craft, tugboats and forklifts for hauling gear ashore.
       The strategy behind a slow, steady buildup of equipment in the region is to shorten the timeline for troops to get there should Bush order military action. Prepositioning heavy equipment would enable troops to simply fall into place, Kupperman reported.
       In Iraq, the government-controlled media called the draft resolution an excuse for war and urged the Security Council not to bow to U.S. demands.
       “America wants to use this resolution as a pretext and a cover for its aggression on Iraq and the whole Arab nation,” the ruling Baath Party newspaper Al-Thawra said Thursday. “The Security Council should not give [the Americans] a pretext and a cover for the coming aggression.”
       According to a strict timeline in the resolution, inspectors would have up to 45 days to actually begin work and must report to the council 60 days later on Iraq’s performance. In the meantime, any Iraqi obstructions or noncompliance would be reported immediately to the council for assessment.
       At the same time, it offers Iraq the possibility of lifting a decade of crippling sanctions if it complies fully with its obligations.

PROTRACTED DEBATE
       Negotiations began after Bush’s Sept. 12 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, when he challenged world leaders to get tough with Iraq or stand aside as the United States acted.
       The speech was followed by a toughly worded draft resolution, including a call for possible military action if Iraq did not submit.
       Even so, the United States engaged in protracted debate and eventually conceded to a series of revisions to win support from key allies, or at least diplomatic cover.
       A cornerstone of the U.S. proposal is a tough new inspections regime responsible for hunting for illicit weapons and reporting on any Iraqi failures to comply with its disarmament obligations.
       It would require Iraq to provide inspectors with “immediate, unimpeded, unconditional, and unrestricted access to any and all” areas, including eight presidential sites, where advance notice was previously needed for inspections.
       Inspectors can also decide whether to interview Iraqi scientists and government officials outside the country.
       Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador, would not directly say whether the resolution could authorize military action.
       Instead, he said, Bush believes “the use of force, war, would be a last resort. He wants to give the United Nations and the Security Council a chance.”

  MSNBC.com’s Preston Mendenhall in London, NBC’s Linda Fasulo at the United Nations and Andrea Mitchell in Washington, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
 

                    INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING by STRATFOR

                        http://www.stratfor.com
__________________________________________________________________
                                                   08 November 2002
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F R E E   I N T E L L I G E N C E   B R I E F I N G:

Russia Seeks Regime Change To Prevent Iraq War

Informed Russian sources told Stratfor on Nov. 7 that Russian
intelligence services are working in tandem with pro-Russian Iraqi
generals to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, hoping to stave
off a U.S. war. Moscow seeks to stage a coup before the end of
November, in time to prevent a U.S. attack.

Quick strikes, huge force envisioned by Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 — The Bush administration has settled on a plan for a possible invasion of Iraq that envisions seizing most of the country quickly and encircling Baghdad, but assumes that Saddam Hussein will probably fall from power before U.S. forces enter the capital, senior U.S. military officials said.

       HEDGING ITS BETS, the Pentagon is also preparing for the possibility of prolonged fighting in and around Baghdad. Administration war planners expect that, even if the Iraqi president is deposed from power, there could be messy skirmishes there and in Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, the military officials said.
       The war plan, sometimes the subject of bitter arguments between senior civilian and military officials, has been refined in recent weeks even as the Bush administration pursued a successful diplomatic effort to secure a new U.N. weapons inspection system for Iraq. Officials said that the plan could still change in important ways, such as the precise number of troops required, but that the broad outlines are now agreed upon within the administration. Military officials said they will be prepared to go to war if Iraq flouts the new resolution, approved on Friday by the U.N. Security Council.
       Most notably, the emerging U.S. approach tries to take into account regional sensitivities by attempting to inflict the minimum amount of damage deemed necessary to achieve the U.S. goals in a war. The plan aims to do that mainly by attacking quickly but with a relatively small force conducting focused attacks. But it also hedges by putting enough combat force in the area — including around 150,000 U.S. and allied ground troops — to engage in close combat with the Special Republican Guard if Iraqi resistance is stiffer than expected
       “The point is that if things don’t go as we hope, there will be enough forces on hand to deal with it,” said one Defense Department official who was briefed on the plan late last month.

REVOLUTION TO BE FOSTERED
       The dual nature of the U.S. war plan is designed to encourage Iraqis to revolt against Hussein. As an administration official put it in a recent interview, the plan aims to “create the conditions” under which Iraqis can do that. “I think ultimately this is more of a revolution that’s going to happen, rather than something brought about by U.S. military power,” he said.
       To create those conditions, the U.S. invasion would begin with a series of simultaneous air and ground actions and psychological warfare operations, all aimed at destroying the security police and other institutions that help Hussein hold on to power. “You have to shake the regime to its core,” said one knowledgeable defense expert. “You’ve got to pursue the pillars of the regime across the board.”
       Under the concept of operations briefed this fall to President Bush, rather than begin with a lengthy air campaign, as in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, an invasion would begin with the U.S. military swiftly seizing the northern, western and southern sectors of Iraq while launching air strikes and other attacks on “regime targets” — mainly security forces and suspected repositories of chemical and biological weapons — in the remaining part of the country around Baghdad, military officials said.
       Simultaneously, a nationwide “psychological operations” campaign that is already underway would use leaflets and radio broadcasts to try to persuade the Iraqi military to change sides and to tell the Iraqi population that they aren’t being targeted. Also, troops and civilian officials would be warned against carrying out orders to use chemical or biological weapons.
       If Hussein were to fall quickly, U.S. ground forces wouldn’t need to assault Baghdad. “The feeling is, they’ll be successful in the first phase, and then the next phase won’t be necessary, because the regime will fall and a new regime will take over,” said a military planner. Indeed, the U.S. intelligence community has predicted that Hussein might even be ousted before a U.S. attack is launched, once it becomes clear in Iraq that such an attack is imminent.
       Overall, the plan makes sense by trying both to undercut Hussein’s domestic base and to minimize his ability to strike neighbors, said retired Air Force Col. Richard Atchison, an intelligence officer who specialized in targeting during the Gulf War. “In the north, you separate Saddam from his tribal support base; in the south, you hold the area most seditious to the Saddam regime,” he said. “Then you can form an Iraqi government-in-waiting with your coalition allies.”
       Meanwhile, Atchison said, in the west, where there is little except a highway and two Iraqi military airfields and weapons depots, “you protect Jordan and Israel.”
       This article was discussed extensively in recent days with several senior civilian and military Defense Department officials. At their request, several aspects of the plan are being withheld from publication. Those aspects include the timing of certain military actions, the trigger points for other moves, some of the tactics being contemplated and the units that would execute some of the tactics.
      Some of those officials said they see a strategic benefit in disclosing the dual nature of the plan. Discussing its broad outline would help inform the Arab world that the United States is making a determined effort to avoid attacking the Iraqi people, one said. At the same time, he added, it also might help the Iraqi military understand that the U.S. military will be able to destroy any units that resist.

WARY OF AN URBAN WAR
       But the entire plan is designed to avoid having to engage in debilitating urban combat in the streets of the capital, where U.S. technological advantages would be degraded and civilian casualties would be inevitable.
       In phase one of the operation, the U.S. military would move into the nearly empty western desert bordering Jordan. The purpose of this action would be to keep Israel from being attacked by missiles or unmanned drone aircraft laden with chemical or biological weapons. U.S. troops would look for airstrips and stretches of highway where drones could be launched. They also would keep a watch for Scud missiles, though U.S. military intelligence analysts consider it unlikely that Iraq has operational Scuds that it could deploy to the west.
       At roughly about the same time, the 101st Airborne Division and a similar helicopter-heavy British unit would move from bases in Germany and Turkey into northern Iraq. This is expected to be a largely unopposed movement because northern Iraq is Kurdish and has been largely autonomous since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. The CIA is believed to already be operating there.
       Once in northern Iraq, U.S. forces could establish operating bases through which “follow-on” U.S. units could fly in from Turkey to refuel and then launch attacks further south. In particular, this would position U.S. troops for attacks on Tikrit, a city of about 50,000 that lies on the Tigris River, about 100 miles north of Baghdad.
       Putting a large U.S. force in northern Iraq would also keep the Turkish military from believing that it has a free hand in dealing with the Kurds, with whom it has been engaged in low-level fighting for years. But this aspect of the operation is mainly expected to be defensive, carried out mainly to keep the Iraqi military from trying to retreat into the north.
      In the south, British forces and the U.S. Marines likely would be assigned to seize airstrips and other key facilities in the heavily Shiite section around the port city of Basra, just north of Kuwait. This aspect of the plan “gives the Shiites a chance to get organized,” said a former Central Command official. The Shiites adhere to a form of Islam that is different from that of Hussein and most of the people around him, who are Sunni Muslims.
       Then, if Hussein were still in power, U.S. tanks would spearhead a multipronged attack on Baghdad and Tikrit, the source of Hussein’s strongest support. That part of central Iraq is considered to pose a far more difficult military problem than does the rest of the country, in part because antiaircraft weaponry has been withdrawn from other areas and concentrated there, according to U.S. military intelligence analysts

ECHOES OF PANAMA
       The plan resembles the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama more than it does the 1991 Gulf War, people familiar with it noted. “This is looking more and more like a Panama-style takedown, a Special Operation writ large, but with significant follow-on forces ... to pacify any bypassed pockets, prevent too many reprisal killings of the Baathists and reduce any holdouts,” said Tom Donnelly, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute who is co-author of a history of the Panama operation.
       The force being considered to carry out this plan is larger than some senior Pentagon civilians and some air power advocates had advocated earlier this year. People familiar with the plan say that it currently contemplates using about 250,000 Army, Air Force, Marine, Navy and allied personnel. The numbers are drawing fire from some who had argued for a smaller approach that would rely less on conventional Army forces and more on a combination of Special Forces, air strikes and rebel Iraqis. “This is a classic Army/Tommy Franks plan, and I believe it is their game plan,” said one retired Air Force general, referring to Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the head of the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters covering Iraq and the Middle East.
       Some military officials said the overall troop size — which amounts to about half the 500,000 U.S. Army troops deployed for the 1991 Gulf War — would be a powerful signal to Iraqis that the U.S. government is determined to bring change to Iraq. “They have to be prepared to go in with a large force and must advertise that fact in order to attempt to get Saddam to quit or to get to those who might try to overthrow him,” one planner said.
       Whatever the reason, Franks is now seen inside the Pentagon as having prevailed in the argument over the size of the force. “I’d say he’s a happy camper,” said one person familiar with Franks’s thinking.
       That is a radical shift from earlier this year, when Franks first presented his thoughts about attacking Iraq to Rumsfeld and was ordered to reexamine his assumptions. “He was slam-dunked on his early war plans,” said one person familiar with that discussion. “He was told, ‘Go off, be more creative, we don’t want to put huge forces on the ground, and your time lines are too long.’ ”
       The plan that now exists is a kind of compromise, the planner said, with Franks now offering an approach that is speedier than originally envisioned but with a troop contingent close in size to what he originally proposed. “I think it is a pretty audacious and bold plan,” said the Defense official who was recently briefed on it.
       But even now, the plan isn’t set in concrete. Most notably, there are still some concerns among military leaders about which units — and which nations — would shoulder the burden of post-victory occupation. “The military piece of defeating the Iraqi army is certainly within our capabilities,” Gen. James L. Jones, the Marine commandant, said in a recent interview. But, he added, “there is always the aftermath, and that is one of the great unresolved questions. There are all kinds of questions here.” The first one he noted is, “How long are you going to stay?”

  © 2002 The Washington Post Company

If Saddam denies possessing weapons, conflict more likely

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15 — While the chief U.N. weapons inspector is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad on Monday, U.N. diplomats believe a much more crucial date — and the one that could set the direction for Iraq’s fate — is Dec. 8, by which Saddam Hussein must declare whether his country possess weapons of mass destruction. If the Iraqi leader insists, as he has in the past, that Baghdad doesn’t have any banned weaponry, diplomats said it could make a U.S.-led war inevitable.
 

       TO DATE, Baghdad has flatly denied possessing any such biological, chemical or nuclear weaponry — a claim rejected by the United States.
       “I’ll simply say that they do have weapons of mass destruction,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday.
       In a harshly worded letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday — in which Baghdad grudgingly accepted the latest U.N. resolution — Foreign Minister Naji Sabri asserted Iraq “has not developed weapons of mass destruction, whether nuclear, chemical or biological, as claimed by evil people.”
       However, based on past experiences, that may not be Baghdad’s last word on the matter.

      Under Resolution 1441, Iraq must provide by Dec. 8 “a currently accurate, full and complete declaration of all aspects of its programs to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and other delivery systems,” including the locations where any such programs were developed.

CRUNCH TIME
       Hans Blix, the chief U.N. weapons inspector, said Friday that the declaration deadline was one of the “most important moments we foresee.”
       He hinted — and diplomats suggested — that Saddam could still amend the country’s past blanket denials when it comes to the crunch deadline.
       Over the past 12 years, Baghdad has sharply shifted its position on its arsenal when taken to task by the United Nations — and Saddam may use the same ploy again to avert a showdown.

      Moreover, a frank and honest declaration about its arsenal of banned weaponry may be the only way for Saddam to avoid confrontation, as long as the inspectors are then allowed to verify it and eventually destroy it.
       Even a partial declaration of weaponry may be enough, as long as inspectors are not impeded in carrying out their duties.
       “But if the declaration says, ‘We have nothing, we’ve destroyed it, everything is gone,’ then things would look ominous,” said one Security Council diplomat.
 

CLOUDS OF WAR
   Others were more frank about what they see as the eventual outcome.
       “No one thinks Iraq will meet the terms of the resolution,” said one diplomat. “Everybody realizes that war is coming.”
       Another Security Council diplomat that while his country was seeking a peaceful outcome, “most people here would think that given the tough language in Washington, it’s hard to see how we can avoid war.”

Under the U.N. resolution, a false declaration on Dec. 8 is not sufficient to constitute “material breach,” the trigger for military action. The resolution states that a false statement or “omissions” must be accompanied by “failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and cooperate fully in the implementation of, this resolution.”
       In other words, inspectors must also find prohibited weaponry, or be prevented from carrying out their mission.
       U.N. diplomats believe that U.S. security agencies will provide substantial intelligence to Blix and his team when they begin their work in Iraq, allowing them put the Iraqis on the spot.
       And many diplomats with the Security Council members believe the inspectors will find substantial violations by Saddam. As one diplomat remarked, “It’s hard to imagine Saddam changing his spots.”
       However, another Security Council diplomat cautioned that while the media and elements within Washington were pushing the “showdown with Iraq” angle, there are “realists and pragmatists in Iraq and the United States,” who will do their best to avert a war.

He said he doesn’t expect his nation to be discussing the issue at the Security Council until 60 days after the inspections begin when Blix is obligated to report to the United Nations.
       The only exception would be in the case of a “fundamental” incident involving the inspectors as they attempt to carry out their duties. “And we should not wish for such an incident.”

DIPLOMATIC PUSH
       After two months of intense diplomacy by British and American officials, the 15 members of the council unanimously approved a resolution Nov. 8 that demanded Iraq’s full co-operation.
       One of the main stumbling blocks during the protracted negotiations was Washington’s refusal to seek a second U.N. vote before launching military action.
       In the end, Washington agreed that the Security Council should “convene immediately” upon receipt of any report of material breach by Blix in order to “consider the situation” but that it did not require a further vote.

       One diplomat said that Washington was so confident that Saddam would be found in breach that the United States won’t jump on the first report of an infraction.
       However, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Thursday that Washington will not keep its powder dry forever.
       “I think the U.S. has demonstrated considerable patience during the past two months,” he said. “That patience will continue, but at the same time I think it is absolutely necessary that there be no confusion, no misunderstanding, that if the Iraqis do not cooperate, do not work with the inspectors, then there will be consequences, and those consequences will be military force to disarm and change the regime.”
       And he even raised the possibility that attacks on U.S. and British planes monitoring the so-called no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq could be sufficient to trigger a U.S. attack.
       However, one of the chief weapons inspectors, Mohammad ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was more cautious.
       “If there is a minor omission and this is clearly not intentional, we are not rushing to the Security Council to say this is a material breach,” he said.

   Linda Fasulo is NBC’s U.N. correspondent. Sean Federico-O’Murchu is an international producer/editor with MSNBC.com.

Item Number:6
Date: 11/19/2002
IRAQ - 'DUSTY WEAPONS' COULD NEUTRALIZE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING (NOV 19/AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Iraq last month imported 25 tons of a powder
that is considered a crucial ingredient in the manufacture of
so-called "dusty weapons," which can penetrate military chemical
protective clothing, the Associated Press reports.
 
 

Baghdad informed the U.N. that the powder, sold under the brand name
Aerosil, is to be used at a pharmaceutical company that reportedly
produced chemical and biological weapons before the 1991 Persian
Gulf War.
 
 

According to declassified U.S. intelligence, Iraq is known to have
produced a very fine, dust-based version of the blister agent
mustard during its eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s.
 
 

The creation of a "dusty" form of VX nerve agent could kill U.S.
troops even dressed in the latest full protective gear, said Eric
Croddy of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
 
 
 

Item Number:7
Date: 11/19/2002
IRAQ - COALITION AIRCRAFT SHOT AT AGAIN (NOV 19/CENTCOM)

US CENTRAL COMMAND -- U.S. and British aircraft targeted two Iraqi
air defense communications facilities and an air defense radar
facility in retaliation for "hostile threats and acts against
coalition forces and their aircraft," the U.S. Central Command
(CENTCOM) reports.
 
 

The strikes took place after Iraqi air defense command units fired
"multiple surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery at
coalition aircraft," a CENTCOM press release said.
 
 

One communications facility near Tallil, about 170 miles southeast
of Baghdad, was targeted at about 3:00 p.m. on Monday. Another
communications facility and a radar facility were struck at about
the same time near Al Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.
 
 

This is the fourth time in five days that Iraq has fired on U.S. and
British aircraft patrolling the "no-fly" zones since Baghdad agreed
to the latest U.N. Security Council resolution regarding new
inspections.
 
 
 
 
 

Item Number:8
Date: 11/19/2002
ISRAEL - EARLY WARNINGS MUST STILL COME FROM U.S. (NOV 19/MENL)

MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE -- Israel must still rely upon the United
States for early warning in the event of a ballistic missile attack
from Iraq, despite having a new spy satellite in orbit, the Middle
East Newsline reports, citing Israeli officials.
 
 

The Ofeq-5 satellite does not provide a steady viewing picture for
areas of western Iraq that would contain launch points for Baghdad's
remaining supply of Al-Hussein missiles.
 
 

The difficulty lies in the fact that the Ofeq-5 is not in a
stationary orbit, which is necessary to maintain constant
surveillance over a given area.
 
 
 

Item Number:15
Date: 11/19/2002
PERSIAN GULF - GULF ALLIES RECEIVING U.S. WEAPONS (NOV 19/WP)

WASHINGTON POST -- Several Persian Gulf states have been cleared for
major purchases of U.S. weapons and equipment, reports the
Washington Post.
 
 

Bahrain, which President Bush has described as a "major non-NATO
ally," is buying advanced radar and missile systems.
 
 

Neighboring United Arab Emirates is taking delivery of 80 F-16
Fighting Falcons outfitted with electronic warfare equipment.
 
 

Kuwait is purchasing 400 Hellfire missiles and 16 AH-64 Apache
Longbow helicopters.
 
 

Finally, long-time U.S. ally Oman is buying 12 F-16s, along with
HARM, Harpoon and Maverick precision munitions.
 
 
 

Item Number:18
Date: 11/19/2002
TURKEY - WASHINGTON, ANKARA DISCUSS DEFRAYING COSTS OF WAR (NOV 19/WP)

WASHINGTON POST -- The United States is dicussing possible
compensation for Turkey in the event the U.S. goes to war with Iraq,
the Washington Post reports, citing Turkish and American officials.
 
 

Although there is an admitted large difference between what Ankara
wants and what Washington is willing to give, the fact that the
talks are taking place at all is an indication of how important
Turkey is to the Pentagon's war planning.
 
 

Turkey, which has already lost billions of dollars from tourist
revenue and trade with Iraq since 1991, could serve as an important
base for U.S. troops.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:20
Date: 11/19/2002
USA - PENTAGON MIGHT USE NEW WEAPONS ON IRAQ (NOV 19/SUNTIME)

SUNDAY TIMES -- The Dept. of Defense accelerated the development of
several new-generation weapons to make them ready for use in a
potential battle for Baghdad, the London Sunday Times reports,
citing U.S. military sources.
 
 

One of these new weapons is a microwave bomb, which would emit
powerful waves of energy, destroying electronics, disabling
communications and even shut down vehicle ignitions, all without
hurting bystanders.
 
 

A "vacuum" bomb, consisting of a thermobaric warhead that produces
intense heat, could also be used on suspected stockpiles of chemical
and biological weapons, instantly neutralizing any contaminants
released into the atmosphere.
 
 

The Pentagon also has a three-dimensional computer simulation of
Baghdad's streets, including the locations of Iraq military units,
which U.S. commanders are using to plan scenarios for a ground
assault.
 
 
 

Item Number:21
Date: 11/19/2002
USA - WHITE HOUSE WARNS BAGHDAD OVER ATTACKS ON PATROL PLANES (NOV 19/NYT)

NEW YORK TIMES -- The Bush administration issued a stern warning to
Iraq that firing on U.S. and British aircraft constitutes a breach
of the latest United Nations Security Council resolution, but the
White House has not overtly called the incidents a potential trigger
for war, the New York Times reports.
 
 

The Nov. 8 resolution bans "hostile acts" towards any U.N.
representative or member state upholding U.N. efforts to deal with
Iraqi aggression.
 
 

The statements from the Bush administration were left deliberately
ambiguous, according to administration and Pentagon officials, to
reserve the option that the attacks can be woven into a pattern of
behavior that could be used to make a case to go to war with Iraq.
 
 

However, the London Sunday Telegraph reports that some European
diplomats have questioned the legality of the "no-fly" zones where
the incidents are taking place. They say that British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Washington's closest ally in the continuing
confrontation, would be hard pressed to sell the recent attacks by
Iraq as an impetus for war.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:22
Date: 11/19/2002
YUGOSLAVIA - GOVERNMENT BANS ARMS SALES TO IRAQ (NOV 19/PA)

PACIFIC AEROSPACE -- The Yugoslav federal government has banned all
weapons trading with Iraq, after conceding that illegal sales
occurred in the past, reports the Press Association (U.K.).
 
 

Officials admitted that the state-owned Yugoimport arms company
violated a United Nations embargo by selling weapons to Iraq.
 
 

Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic said the civilian government has
taken control of arms trading from the military.
 
 

The government will seek to fully adhere to U.N. resolutions
regarding Iraq, said Zivkovic.

Item Number:5
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - AIRCRAFT PREPARED NEAR SAUDI BORDER (NOV 20/MENL)

MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE -- Iraq has moved several dozen military
aircraft to bases in the southwest near the border with Saudi
Arabia, the Middle East Newsline reports, citing U.S. intelligence
sources.
 

Several Mirage F-1 fighters and L-29 light combat aircraft have been
sent to underground shelters in the desert near Jal al Batan.
 

U.S. intelligence sources said several of the L-29s have been
converted into unmanned aerial vehicles and may be capable of
delivering chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons.
 

Item Number:6
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - BAGHDAD SAYS IT WILL GIVE FULL ACCOUNT OF WEAPONS (NOV 20/REU)

REUTERS -- Iraq pledged to comply with the next major deadline of
the new U.N. Security Council resolution by providing a full and
accurate account of its arms program, though Baghdad maintained it
has not been developing nuclear weapons since the inspections last
took place, Reuters reports.
 

"Within 30 days, as the resolution says, a report from Iraq will be
submitted on all the files -- nuclear, chemical, biological and
missile files," said Iraqi Gen. Amir al-Saadi, an adviser to Saddam
Hussein.
 

Under Security Council resolution 1441, Iraq has until Dec. 8 to
submit the full account of all banned weapons and programs.

Item Number:7
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - INSPECTION LIST SURPRISES BAGHDAD (NOV 20/INDEP)

THE INDEPENDENT (UK) -- A dinner meeting between U.N. chief weapons
inspector Hans Blix and Saddam Hussein's closest aides contained a
surprise when Blix handed the Iraqis a list of sites to be inspected
by the U.N., the Independent reports.
 

The Iraqis were surprised to find such things as a sponge-mattress
factory and a slipper-manufacturing plant on the list, indicative of
the scale of the forthcoming U.N. inspections.
 

Blix told the Iraqis that the new round of inspections will be more
intrusive, exhausting and comprehensive than in the past, with no
dispensation for any places or persons.
 

Blix said the Iraqis have assured him that Baghdad will do
"everything humanly possible" to comply with the new Security
Council resolution.
 

Item Number:8
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - KURDS PREPARING TO ATTACK ISLAMIC MILITANTS (NOV 20/UPI)

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL -- Militiamen of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) are setting up to attack a group of Islamic
militants in Iraq near the Iranian border, UPI reports, citing
Kurdish sources.
 

PUK troops, accompanied by artillery and Katyusha rocket launchers,
are preparing to attack 300 to 500 members of Ansar al-Islam
(Supporters of Islam), who have been linked to a group known to
associated with Al-Qaida.
 

Ansal al-Islam controls the villages of Tawila and Biyara in
northeastern Iraq.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:9
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - TRUCKS DRAW SUSPICION AS GERM-WAR LABS (NOV 20/LAT)

LOS ANGELES TIMES -- British, German and U.S. intelligence services
believe Iraq has a fleet of nondescript trucks being used as mobile
biological weapons (BW) laboratories, reports the Los Angeles Times.
 

These trucks may be disguised as ice cream trucks, mobile homes or
tractor trailers. They could carry cargoes of anthrax, aflatoxin and
botulinum.
 

"Baghdad has a number of BW labs that can move around the country as
needed, leaving no trace and having no signature that Western
intelligence can detect," said a former National Security Council
official.
 

Even if they could be identified and located, the trucks would be
difficult to destroy because of the risk of releasing harmful
agents.
 

Item Number:10
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - U.N. INSPECTORS GET TO WORK (NOV 20/VOA)

VOICE OF AMERICA -- United Nations weapons inspectors have begun
work in Iraq by meeting with senior officials in Baghdad, reports
the Voice of America News.
 

Logistics is the first step. Technicians are setting up
communications equipment, transportation and facilities.
 

The inspectors will be armed with satellite imagery, advanced
detection devices and intelligence reports from the CIA.
 

Formal inspections are scheduled to begin Nov. 27. By the end of
December, some 100 inspectors will be in Iraq.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:11
Date: 11/20/2002
IRAQ - U.S. WILL RETALIATE WHEN PLANES FIRED ON, SAYS RUMSFELD (NOV 20/AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Responding to a comment by U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Iraqi attacks on coalition air
patrols over the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq were
acceptable, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said such attacks
would not go without a response, the Associated Press reports.
 

"You can be absolutely certain we'll not allow our aircraft to
continue to be shot at with impunity. We intend to respond,"
Rumsfeld said.
 

Annan said Tuesday he did not believe the full Security Council
would concur that firing on no-fly-zone patrols was a violation of
the latest resolution demanding that Iraq disarm.
 

"I don't know that [Annan] necessarily reflects the United Nations,
the center of gravity of the Security Council, on any particular
issue at any particular time. He certainly is the secretary-general
and he has a place and a role. On the other hand, until President
Bush went to the U.N., the U.N. was quite happy with the way things
were, it seems," Rumsfeld countered.
 

Item Number:14
Date: 11/20/2002
NATO - NATO DIPLOMATS AGREE TO RAPID REACTION FORCE (NOV 20/TS)

TORONTO STAR -- NATO ambassadors in Brussels finished a draft
agreement on 20,000-man rapid deployment force to counter threats
from terrorists and rogue states, reports the Toronto Star.
 

The new force will be made of air, ground and naval forces from
European and North American countries.
 

The goal is to have a core group of the force would be deployable
worldwide within a week.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:15
Date: 11/20/2002
PERSIAN GULF - U.S. TROOPS QUIETLY GATHERING SOUTH OF IRAQ (NOV 20/NYDN)

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS -- The United States is quietly preparing for a
ground invasion of Iraq if it becomes necessary and has already
amassed a great deal of equipment in the region, the New York Daily
News reports, citing official sources in the Middle East.
 

Washington maintains enough equipment in Kuwait to sustain 10,000
soldiers, but incoming shipments will soon allow the arming of up to
60,000 troops, with 15,000 already in the country.
 

An additional 30,000 U.S. soldiers could attack from Saudi Arabia,
though "operating from Saudi soil may not be officially acknowledged
until after the war, and maybe never.... What matters is that the
Saudis help, and most of us opposed to Saddam expect they will. They
want to stay on America's good side, especially since they fear Iran
emerging as a big regional force once Iraq is defeated," said an
Omani official.
 
 

Item Number:23
Date: 11/20/2002
USA - PLANS MOVE FORWARD FOR MILITARY COURTS (NOV 20/WP)

WASHINGTON POST -- Officials said that military tribunals will soon
be ready for suspected Al-Qaida members being held in U.S. custody
at Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan, reports the Washington Post.
 

Pentagon General Counsel William Haynes has been meeting with
Justice Dept. officials and other agencies to finalize plans for the
military courts.
 

The military commissions are being considered for only a small
number of the estimated 725 prisoners held in facilities outside the
U.S.
 

Any tribunals that are convened will be conducted outside the U.S.
 

Item Number:26
Date: 11/20/2002
YUGOSLAVIA - BELGRADE'S LINKS WITH BAGHDAD COME UNDER SCRUTINY (NOV 20/AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Concerns are emerging in the United States about
what kind of military information Yugoslavia has passed along to
Iraq regarding U.S. air tactics and low-tech countermeasures against
them, the Associated Press reports.
 

Yugoslavia was able to use several methods to keep its military
forces in Kosovo largely intact in the face of NATO airstrikes in
1999.
 

A team of American military experts is in Yugoslavia to determine
what Belgrade may have mentioned to Baghdad, such as thwarting NATO
electronics by using altered radar frequencies and using passive
tracking systems that do not give off electronic emissions.
 

NATO forces were not able to knock out air defenses during the 1999
campaign, which forced attacking aircraft to only conduct their
missions from altitudes of 15,000 feet or higher.
 

Iraqi intelligence officers are known to have traveled to Yugoslavia
to inspect destroyed unmanned aerial vehicles and pieces of one
F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, while Yugoslav technicians went to
Iraq to upgrade SA-6 surface-to-air missiles and upgrade an air
defense fiber-optics communications network.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMPANY -- Danish authorities have brought
war crimes charges against a former top Iraqi officer living in
Denmark, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
 

Police arrested Iraq's onetime army chief of staff, who defected in
1995, and placed him under house arrest, reports the Associated
Press.
 

Gen. Nizar al-Khazraji is accused of ordering a chemical weapons
attack on Kurds in Iraq in 1988.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:12
Date: 11/21/2002
IRAQ - WESTERN AIRCRAFT TAKE FIRE AGAIN (NOV 21/REU)

REUTERS -- The Iraqi air defense command fired missiles and guns
again at U.S. and British aircraft on Wednesday, prompting Western
fighters to bomb air defense facilities in retaliation, Reuters
reports.
 

The attacks hit three air defense communications sites between Al
Kut (100 miles southeast of Baghdad) and Basra (245 miles southeast
of Baghdad).
 

The United States reiterated that it considers such actions by Iraq
to be "a material breach" of U.N. Security Council resolution 1441,
which sent weapons inspectors back into Iraq.
 

However, there is no way to know if the strikes against Iraqi air
defenses have been effective, with one U.S. official admitting, "We
know we have had some success, we also know in some cases they've
been able to rebuild things."
 
 

Item Number:16
Date: 11/21/2002
KUWAIT - TWO U.S. SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN SHOOTING (NOV 21/CNN)

CABLE NEWS NETWORK -- An unknown gunman shot and seriously wounded
two U.S. soldiers in Kuwait, CNN reports.
 

The shooting took place at about 10:30 a.m. local time when the
soldiers were traveling from Camp Doha to Camp Arifjan, said a U.S.
military spokesman.
 

One soldier was shot in the face and the other was shot in the
shoulder. Both are in serious but stable condition at an Army
hospital in Kuwait City.
 

The unknown assailant escaped the scene.
 
 
 
 

Item Number:17
Date: 11/21/2002
KUWAIT - U.S. FORCES PREPARE FOR COMBAT (NOV 21/NYT)

NEW YORK TIMES -- U.S. troops in Kuwait have been practicing
offensive exercises near the Iraqi border, reports the New York
Times.
 

Combat engineers practiced mine-clearing operations and
bridge-building while under fire.
 

In other exercises, artillery units and helicopter gunships
practiced attacking targets in desert firing ranges.
 

Infantry troops also rehearsed assaults against mock strongholds.
 
 

Item Number:18
Date: 11/21/2002
NATO - BUSH CALLS FOR NATO HELP TO DISARM IRAQ (NOV 21/PP)

PRAGUE POST -- President Bush urged NATO allies to join a coalition
to help disarm Iraq should Saddam Hussein refuse to surrender his
suspected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
 

He said it was up to U.S. allies to choose to participate in any
military action against Iraq, reports the Prague Post.
 

"If the decision is made to use military force we will consult with
our friends and we hope that our friends will join us," said Bush.
 
 

Item Number:18
Date: 11/21/2002
NATO - BUSH CALLS FOR NATO HELP TO DISARM IRAQ (NOV 21/PP)

PRAGUE POST -- President Bush urged NATO allies to join a coalition
to help disarm Iraq should Saddam Hussein refuse to surrender his
suspected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
 

He said it was up to U.S. allies to choose to participate in any
military action against Iraq, reports the Prague Post.
 

"If the decision is made to use military force we will consult with
our friends and we hope that our friends will join us," said Bush.
 

Item Number:23
Date: 11/21/2002
UNITED KINGDOM - LONDON RECEIVES MOBILIZATION REQUEST FROM WASHINGTON (NOV 21/TIMES)

THE TIMES -- The United States officially asked Britain to mobilize
its troops and join a "coalition of the willing" to fight Iraq, the
Times of London reports.
 

Although Foreign Secretary Geoff Hoon stressed that London had not
yet made a decision, it is expected to join with the U.S., sending
up to 15,000 ground troops, a carrier battle group centered on HMS
Ark Royal, RAF Tornado GR.4 fighters and Royal Marine commandos
deployed aboard the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.
 

British troops from the 7th Armored Brigade (the Desert Rats) and
the 4th Armored Brigade, making up the 1st (U.K.) Armored Division,
are already undergoing intensive training in Germany
 

Other units preparing for war include the 1st Battalion of the Black
Watch, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the 1st Battalion of the
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards,
the 3rd Regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery, the 26th Regiment
Royal Artillery and the 12th Regiment Royal Artillery.
 

Item Number:25
Date: 11/21/2002
USA - MEDIA GETS MILITARY FAMILIARIZATION TRAINING (NOV 21/AFPS)

AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE -- Several dozen journalists,
photographers and cameramen are participating in a Pentagon program
designed to familiarize them with military basics and the challenges
of wartime reporting, the American Forces Press Service reports.
 

The training is not graded and does not guarantee a reporter a spot
on a ship or with a combat unit, said a Defense Dept. spokesman, but
it does give information on how to deal with military members and
how the journalists can protect themselves in a combat environment.
 

The 58 members of the media train for one week in basic first aid,
how to respond to different types of attacks and basic
familiarization with ranks, weapons, equipment, customs, courtesies,
rules of engagement and the military Code of Conduct.
 

Item Number:7
Date: 11/22/2002
IRAQ - BAGHDAD'S ARMS BUYERS PROWL EASTERN EUROPE (NOV 22/WP)

WASHINGTON POST -- As the U.S. gets ready for a possible invasion of
Iraq, Baghdad has been buying weapons and military hardware in
recent months, reports the Washington Post.
 

Some of the purchases include vehicles and tank engines from
Bulgaria; radar units from Ukraine; spare parts and missile
technology from Bosnia; and ammunition and explosives from Serbia.
 

Iraq's arms buyers appear to be interested in maintaining old
equipment and upgrading the country's air defense systems.
 
 

Item Number:8
Date: 11/22/2002
IRAQ - COALITION AIRCRAFT STRIKE AIR DEFENSE FORCES AGAIN (NOV 22/CENTCOM)

US CENTRAL COMMAND -- Iraq moved an air defense radar south of the
33rd parallel on Thursday in violation of the established no-fly
zone, prompting coalition aircraft in Operation Southern Watch to
bomb it with precision-guided weapons, the U.S. Central Command
reports.
 

The radar was located near Tallil, about 170 miles southeast of
Baghdad.
 

Another strike earlier in the day targeted the air defense radar
near Ash Shuaybah, about 245 miles southeast of Baghdad.
 

"Iraqi air defense forces have fired at coalition aircraft seven out
of eight days since the acceptance by Iraq of U.N. resolution 1441,"
said a CENTCOM press release.
 
 

Item Number:9
Date: 11/22/2002
IRAQ - U.S. RECRUITS AN OPPOSITION ARMY (NOV 22/CSM)

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR -- The U.S. is quietly recruiting a
5,000-strong army from members of Iraqi opposition groups to help
oust Saddam Hussein, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
 

The recruits are being offered $3,000 and a free trip to the U.S.
 

Some Iraq opposition leaders  complain that the U.S. is creating an
army for the controversial Iraqi National Congress -- a group some
say has little support in Iraq.
 
 

Item Number:5
Date: 11/25/2002
IRAQ - INSPECTORS ARRIVE IN BAGHDAD (NOV 25/CNN)

CABLE NEWS NETWORK -- The first group of 18 U.N. arms inspectors is
due to arrive in Iraq to begin looking for Baghdad's alleged stores
of weapons of mass destruction, CNN reports.
 

The advance team has already brought in several tons of equipment
that will be used to look at 700 suspected sites.
 

Twelve of the inspectors are from UNMOVIC and the other six are from
the International Atomic Energy Agency.
 

Plans call for 80 to 100 inspectors to be stationed in Iraq.
 
 

Item Number:6
Date: 11/25/2002
IRAQ - INVASION FEARS SPARK MASS DEPARTURES (NOV 25/WORLDTRIBU)

WORLD TRIBUNE.COM -- The growing perception that a U.S.-led invasion
of Iraq is imminent is prompting thousands of Iraqis to line up at
government agencies for permission to travel abroad, World
Tribune.com reports, citing sources in the Persian Gulf.
 

Although the Interior Ministry and other agencies have allowed
Iraqis to leave the country, they may not do so with their assets.
 

Tensions in Baghdad have reportedly increased with the arrival of
the first members of a new team of United Nations weapons
inspectors.
 

Item Number:10
Date: 11/25/2002
KUWAIT - MARINES SHIP OUT TO THE GULF (NOV 25/SDUT)

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE -- Several hundred Marines from the
headquarters staff of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headed to
Kuwait last week, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.
 

The Marines will participate in the Internal Look 03 training
exercises when they arrive in Kuwait.
 

After the exercise, "the mission statement right now is
opened-ended," said Col. John Coleman, chief of staff for the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force.
 

"We'll stand by for further direction, which may include redeploy
home, or may include further operations," Coleman said.
 

Item Number:10
Date: 11/26/2002
IRAQ - SADDAM WON'T BE TAKEN AT HIS WORD (NOV 26/BBC)

BRITISH BROADCASTING CORP. -- Statements by Iraqi officials that
Baghdad has no weapons of mass destruction must be backed up by
proof, according to the chief U.N. weapons inspector, the BBC
reports.
 

"If the Iraqi side were to state -- as it still did at our meeting
-- that there were no such programs, it would need to provide
convincing documentary or other evidence," said Hans Blix after
meeting with Iraqi officials.
 

Inspections by UNMOVIC and the IAEA are due to begin Wednesday.
 

Item Number:21
Date: 11/26/2002
UNITED KINGDOM - IRAQ HAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, SAYS BLAIR (NOV 26/TIMES)

THE TIMES -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Saddam Hussein
that continuing to deny that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction
will be considered defiance of the United Nations, the Times of
London reports.
 

"We've no doubt that he has weapons of mass destruction so let's
wait and see what he actually says," Blair said.
 

Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq must declare by
Dec. 8 any programs it has to develop ballistic missiles or nuclear,
biological or chemical weapons.
 

"This has got to be a situation where there is an honest declaration
by Saddam and should it be found that that declaration was
dishonest, then that most certainly would be a material breach (of
the UN resolution). It's not a game of hide and seek...it's not a
game where the inspectors go in and see if they can find the stuff
and he sees if he can conceal it," Blair added.
 
 
 

Item Number:23
Date: 11/26/2002
USA - WASHINGTON MAY PRESSURE SAUDIS ON FINANCING TERRORISTS (NOV 26/WP)

WASHINGTON POST -- Saudi Arabia must crack down on those who finance
terrorism within 90 days or be prepared to deal with unilateral
action by the United States to bring suspects to justice, says a
National Security Council task force recommendation to President
Bush.
 

Although it is unknown what the unilateral action might entail, the
U.S. would present Saudi Arabia with evidence and intelligence
identifying businesses and Saudis suspected of supplying money and
support to Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, the Washington Post
reports, citing senior U.S. officials.
 

Riyadh will then be told to put the financiers out of business after
90 days, with the administration saying, according to one senior
official, "We don't care how you deal with the problem; just do it
or we will."
 

The demand may take the form of a high-profile Cabinet official
visiting Riyadh or a formal demarche from the U.S. ambassador to
Saudi Arabia.

The U.N. weapons teams in Iraq planned to begin the job Wednesday with visits to sites that were being examined before inspections were halted in Dec. 1998. Later, the inspectors will move on to new and rebuilt sites. "We have a huge mandate," spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters. "It's going to take time, and we require a lot of patience from our member states as well as transparency and cooperation from the Iraqis."

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR -- China denied its involvement in the
alleged transfer of advanced Ukrainian radar systems to Iraq,
reports the Christian Science Monitor.
 

The U.K. and the U.S. have cited a "credible possibility" that the
illegal sale of the Kolchuga radar system took place through a third
party.
 

The U.S. would not say what country was involved, but U.S.
Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual said that China was of "special
concern."

Item Number:7
Date: 11/27/2002
DJIBOUTI - HORN OF AFRICA BECOMES FORWARD STAGING BASE (NOV 27/VOA)

VOICE OF AMERICA -- U.S. troops and equipment have been moving
thorough Djibouti on their way to Kuwait, reports the Voice of
America News.
 

An Army spokesman said that 450 Army troops and 50 civilian
contractors have been operating a forward staging base for Operation
Desert Spring, which is the ongoing mission to ensure the defense of
Kuwait.
 

U.S. forces previously employed Kuwait itself as a staging area, but
the spokesman said that for the past six months Djibouti has been
used because it provides advanced training opportunities.
 

The spokesman estimated that about two brigades' worth of equipment
and troops have moved through Djibouti, with 50 percent reaching
Kuwait and 50 percent ending up in the U.S.
 
 

Item Number:12
Date: 11/27/2002
JAPAN - MARITIME SELF-DEFENSE FORCE GROUP SHIPS OUT (NOV 27/KYODO)

KYODO -- A Japanese destroyer and refueling ship left port from
Yokosuka to support U.S. efforts in the war on terrorism, Kyodo News
reports.
 

The Murasame-class destroyer Harusame and the Towada-class
replenishment oiler Tokiwa will relieve two other Maritime
Self-Defense Force ships in the Indian Ocean in mid-December.
 

Although prohibited by law from giving direct combat support, Japan
agreed to supply oil to U.S. and British vessles in the Arabian Sea.
 

Item Number:13
Date: 11/27/2002
JORDAN - AMMAN CONTRACTS FOR AFV UPGRADE (NOV 27/MENL)

MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE -- Jordan has signed an agreement with British
company Armored Base Repair Organization for the upgrade of Amman's
armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), the Middle East Newsline reports.
 

Most of Jordan's AFVs are of British origin.
 

The agreement also proposes jointly offering to overhaul or upgrade
British-made AFVs from other countries.
 
 
 

Item Number:15
Date: 11/27/2002
KUWAIT - CENTCOM BOOSTS FORCE WITH APACHES (NOV 27/MENL)

MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE -- A squadron of AH-64D Apache helicopters has
arrived in Kuwait, boosting the firepower of the U.S. Central
Command (CENTCOM) in the event of a confrontation with Iraq, the
Middle East Newsline reports.
 

The 20 Apaches, part of the European Command's 11th Aviation
Regiment at Illesheim, Germany, arrived last month, officials said.
 

CENTCOM currently has elements of its command staff in the region
and there are an estimated 35,000 U.S. troops deployed within
striking distance of Iraq.
 

Item Number:21
Date: 11/27/2002
USA - MILITARY COURTS PRESS COVERAGE (NOV 27/GUAR)

THE GUARDIAN -- U.S. officials have started to invite journalists to
view military activity in the western desert of Kuwait, reversing 10
months of secrecy, the Guardian reports.
 

Some 12,000 U.S. troops have virtually taken over about one-quarter
of Kuwaiti territory with tent camps and equipment depots.
 

Journalists, including a group from Arab-language television station
al-Jazeera, also visited the U.S. urban warfare training center at
Ft. Polk, La., to watch soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division
practice house-to-house combat.
 

Some journalists believe the point of the new openness by the
Pentagon is to show Baghdad that it is serious about its
preparations for possible war against Iraq.

Item Number:3
Date: 11/29/2002
GERMANY - U.S. HAS NOT ASKED FOR MISSILES, SAYS DEFENSE MINISTER (NOV 29/AFP)

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE -- German Defense Minister Peter Struck denied
a report that Washington requested anti-aircraft missiles for a war
against Iraq, Agence France-Presse reports.
 

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing senior German government
officials, said the U.S. asked Germany to prepare an unspecified
number of Patriot missiles for American troops in the Middle East.
 

The report added that it would be difficult for Berlin to refuse the
request, since the missiles might be used to defend Turkey, a NATO
ally.
 

Although German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ruled out direct
involvement by German troops in a war against Iraq, he recently said
the U.S. would be able to use German airspace and U.S. bases in the
country to mount an attack against Baghdad.
 
 

Item Number:6
Date: 11/29/2002
IRAQ - A LOOK AT IRAQ'S SABOTEURS (NOV 29/TIME)

TIME MAGAZINE -- Four Iraqi security officers that have established
contact with the CIA and White House are "people who can do World
War II-style resistance, breaking up the infrastructure of
communications and command," a senior intelligence official, reports
Time Magazine.
 

And the U.S. has begun training 5,000 Iraqi exiles for missions to
assist American combat troops,
 

Also thrown into the mix: Israeli special forces, reportedly
operating in Iraq's western desert on reconnaissance and training
missions and surveying the ground for sites where Baghdad may have
hidden Scud missiles and launchers after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
 

In the past few years, members of an Israeli special-forces unit
called Shaldag have taken part in the Scud hunt and Israel may
request that some of them stay in Iraq after a war starts to
continue the hunt, a U.S. intelligence official said.
 
 

Item Number:8
Date: 11/29/2002
ISRAEL - ISLAMIC JIHAD SAYS IT WILL ATTACK NAVY (NOV 29/MENL)

MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE -- The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad says it is
preparing to launch suicide attacks against the Israeli navy off the
Mediterranean coast, the Middle East Newsline reports.
 

Israeli naval and commercial shipping, particularly those operating
near the Gaza Strip, will become the targets of suicide squads
attempting to ram them with boats filled with explosives, the group
said.
 

At least one attack has already taken place, when a Palestinian boat
packed with explosives exploded next to an Israeli navy patrol boat
on Nov. 22.
 

The ship was slightly damaged and four Israeli sailors were injured
in the attack.
 
 

Item Number:11
Date: 11/29/2002
KUWAIT - PLENTY OF ROOM FOR U.S. TO OPERATE AGAINST IRAQ (NOV 29/AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Besides Saudi Arabia, Defense experts say the
American military will have plenty of room to attack Iraq operate
from Kuwait and elsewhere, the Associated Press reports.
 

There are 12,000 U.S. troops in Kuwait and 14,000 more in other
Persian Gulf nations, as well as the USS Lincoln (5,500 sailors).
 

Although the ideal plan would have U.S. ground troops attack Iraq
from every direction, Kuwait has always been the "primary point of
access" in U.S. invasion plans, said Anthony Cordesman, a military
analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
 

"Kuwait allows you access for heavy forces to Iraq's western
desert," Cordesman said, adding that Iraq's armored forces could not
move into position to block a ground invasion through Kuwait without
risk of being attacked by U.S. aircraft.
 

Other potential launching sites for ground attacks include Jordan,
where a contingent of U.S. special operations forces have recently
conducted exercises, as well as Turkey.
 
 
 

Item Number:13
Date: 11/29/2002
QATAR - CENTRAL COMMAND PREPARING FOR COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE (NOV 29/CT)

CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- The U.S. Central Command's (CENTCOM) forthcoming
communications exercise in Qatar reflects Washington's intention to
expands its permanent presence there.
 

CENTCOM's exercise, due to begin in early December, will place a
mobile headquarters in Qatar that could remain after the exercise.
 

The communications nerve center could be used to run U.S. operations
against terrorist operations throughout the Middle East and
Afghanistan.
 

The U.S. is already using Qatar as a base to ship supplies and
conduct aerial refueling for units heading to and from Afghanistan.
 
 
 

1. Periscope, News Clipping Services (email), all items preceded with "Item Number" have been excerpted from email news summaries received from Periscope starting on 7/22/02. The original news source of the information is listed with these items.  In some cases, a follow is made, in which case, the original source link is included.
2. MSBNC online, various articles, with specific links directly to each article
3. Fox News Online, various articles with specific links directly to each article
4. Middle East Newsline, various articles as cited
5. The Washington Post, various artices as cited