IDEALS

SAN FRANCISCO, (Mar. 29, 2010) IPS/GIN – It’s been seven years
since Fernando Suarez del Solar buried his son, Jesus. Seven years
since Mar. 27, 2003, when just one week into the U.S. invasion of
Iraq, Lance Corporal Jesus Suarez del Solar stepped on a piece of
unexploded ordnance and came home in a flag-draped coffin.

When he died, Jesus left behind a wife and infant son, Erik, who
even today doesn’t understand what happened to his father.
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WASHINGTON, (Jun. 11, 2009) IPS/GIN – Allegations of waste, fraud
and abuse by a U.S. military contractor were extensively detailed
by newly created investigative bodies charged with oversight of
federal government contracting, at two hearings this week on
Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers were told of private security guards abandoning their
posts at the U.S. embassy in Kabul for up to three and a half
hours, and of a logistics manager who bought hundreds of thousands
of dollars worth of counterfeit boots, winter jackets and gloves
from his wife’s company.

Also among the reported excesses was a 30-million-dollar dining
facility that is currently being built by KBR, a former subsidiary
of Halliburton, for the U.S. military in southern Iraq that has
been deemed unnecessary. Read the rest of this entry →

WASHINGTON, (Jun. 30, 2009) IPS/GIN – U.S. combat troops pulled
out of most Iraqi cities Monday, a day before the Jun. 30 deadline
for their withdrawal in accordance with the Status of Force
Agreement (SOFA) ratified by the Iraqi parliament in November 2008.

Iraqi security forces will step in to fill the vacuum left by the
diminished U.S. military presence.

Publicly, U.S. military officials are supportive of the transition
to greater authority for the Iraqi security apparatuses. In remarks
to the cable news channel CNN on Sunday, the top U.S. general in
Iraq, Ray Odierno, voiced his support for the change. Read the rest of this entry →

WASHINGTON, (Jun. 18, 2009) IPS/GIN – U.S. President Barack Obama
faces heated attacks from right-wing hawks, who believe he should
make a statement of unequivocal support of protesters supporting
moderate presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

So far, Obama’s cautious stance has earned praise from Iranian
activists, area experts, and much of the Washington foreign policy
establishment, who warn that an enthusiastic U.S. embrace of the
protesters would threaten to delegitimize them. Read the rest of this entry →

WASHINGTON, (Jul. 15, 2009) IPS/GIN – The indefinite postponement
of a referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan’s controversial draft
constitution just days after a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe
Biden has given rise to speculation that Washington may have played
a role in the delay.

Despite initial expectations that the charter would be put to a
vote on Jul. 25 amid Kurdish parliamentary and presidential
elections, just a few days after Biden landed in Iraq, the
country’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said it was
impossible to hold the vote on that date. Read the rest of this entry →