IRAQ: Beyond the Green Zone - Inter Press Service

IPS Correspondent Gareth Porter talks to Real News.

The U.S. military establishment believed they could easily pressure President Obama to back down on his pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months. Having found Obama unconvinced by their argument, they have now launched a campaign in Washington to blame Obama's withdrawal policy for any future instability in Iraq.

Billion Dollar Audit Missed by Pentagon Watchdog
By Pratap Chatterjee*
WASHINGTON - Military auditors failed to complete an audit of the business systems of an Ohio- based company - Mission Essential Personnel - even though it had billed for one billion dollars worth of work largely in Afghanistan over the last four years.
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US-MIDEAST
Light At End of Tunnel Elusive, Despite Obama’s Efforts
Analysis by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will try this week to underline his progress in extricating the United States from the morass his predecessor's "global war on terror" in the Greater Middle East.
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US
Standing Up for Homeless Vets at Stand Downs
By Aaron Glantz*
PLEASANTON, California - More than 400 homeless veterans from across northern California relaxed in comfort at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.
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IRAQ
'We're Not Living, Just Not Dying'
By Jake Hess
SULEYMANIYA, Iraq - Compared to most internally displaced Kurds in northern Iraq, Shamal Qadir is almost lucky. Since the Turkish army devastated his village, Kuzine, in a bombing raid Jul. 1, he's been living in a schoolhouse, where room temperatures are comfortable and basic amenities are accessible.
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New Hardships Intensify Debate Over Iran-Iraq War
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*
HONOLULU, Hawaii, U.S. - Ongoing factional disputes and mounting international sanctions have ignited heated debates among Iran's elites about another critical period in the country's post- revolutionary history - the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.
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Obama Drops 2009 Pledge to Withdraw Combat Troops from Iraq
By Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON - Seventeen months after President Barack Obama pledged to withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq by Sep. 1, 2010, he quietly abandoned that pledge Monday, admitting implicitly that such combat brigades would remain until the end of 2011.
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Despite Iraq Withdrawal, Greater Mideast Not Looking Good
Analysis by Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - While President Barack Obama Monday touted the continuing U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq as a key marker in the success of his regional policies, the latest news from the Greater Middle East, as well as a new public opinion survey, is far less encouraging.
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Families of Dead U.S. Vets Accuse Insurer of Massive Scam
By Aaron Glantz*
SAN FRANCISCO, California - Prudential cheated the families of dead U.S. soldiers and Marines out of more than 100 million dollars in interest on their life-insurance policies, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in a Massachusetts federal court.
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Hearings Reveal Lapses in Private Security in War Zones
By Pratap Chatterjee*
WASHINGTON - Jerry Torres, CEO of Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, has a motto: "For Torres, failure is not an option." A former member of the Green Berets, one of the elite U.S. Army Special Forces, he was awarded "Executive of the Year" at the seventh annual "Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards" in November 2009.
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Fragile States Becoming More Fragile
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - Some of the world's weakest states are becoming ever more fragile, according to the 2010 edition of the annual "Failed States Index" (FSI) released here Monday by Foreign Policy magazine and the independent Fund for Peace (FFP).
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Surge of Think Tanks Blurs U.S. Policy Lines – Part 2
By Michael Flynn*
WASHINGTON - There has been a growing tendency in recent years for think tanks and military brass to jointly pursue policy objectives, some of which are opposed by the public or the White House.
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Surge of Think Tanks Blurs U.S. Policy Lines – Part 1
By Michael Flynn*
WASHINGTON - In early May, Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, was awarded the American Enterprise Institute's Irving Kristol Award, which is given to individuals who have "made exceptional intellectual or practical contributions to improved government policy, social welfare, or political understanding".
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U.S.
Do Armed Contractors Belong in War Zones?
By Pratap Chatterjee*
WASHINGTON - Should private contractors like Blackwater be allowed to continue to provide armed security for convoys, diplomatic and other personnel, and military bases and other facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq? A bipartisan U.S. Congressional commission will spend two days cross-examining 14 witnesses from academia, government and the companies themselves to come up with an answer.
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Draft U.N. Treaty Targets Security Firms in War Zones
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - A United Nations Working Group that monitors the activities of mercenaries worldwide is now trying to rein in the widespread human rights abuses by private military and security companies (PMSCs), which are being increasingly deployed in war zones and peacekeeping operations.
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Iraqi Christians Cling to Their Faith in Jordanian Exile
By Mona Alami
AMMAN - As the 2003 United States-led invasion of Iraq began, the country’s Christians started streaming across the border into neighbouring Jordan. Today most of them continue to live here in abject poverty with no hope of ever returning to the land of their ancestors.
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Pentagon Faces Battle in Effort to Reverse Military Contracting
By Pratap Chatterjee
WASHINGTON - Pentagon chief Robert Gates has called for a cutback of 15 billion dollars in wasteful military spending on contractors as well as government bureaucracy, or risk not being able to pay for its current force.
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Unlike most other international news media, who report on Iraq from inside the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, IPS's Iraqi correspondents spread across the country to bring you some of the boldest reporting about this war-torn nation. To this IPS adds incisive coverage from the international centres of power where the future of Iraq is being moulded.