IPS correspondents bring you independent perspectives on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

U.S. War on Terror Moves East
Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon’s announcement here Tuesday that it is dispatching some 3,200 marines to Afghanistan underlines both Washington’s mounting concern about the strength of the Taliban insurgency and the growing sense here that the central front in its nearly six-and-a-half-year-old “war on terror” has moved back to its South Asian roots.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40804

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Afghan Prison Looks Like Another Guantanamo
William Fisher
NEW YORK – As the world marked the sixth anniversary of the arrival of the first orange-jumpsuit-clad prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, human rights groups are attempting to focus public and congressional scrutiny on what some are calling “the other Gitmo”.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40786

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How the Pentagon Planted a False Hormuz Story
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON – Senior Pentagon officials, evidently reflecting a broader administration policy decision, used an off-the-record Pentagon briefing to turn the Jan. 6 U.S.-Iranian incident in the Strait of Hormuz into a sensational story demonstrating Iran’s military aggressiveness, a reconstruction of the events following the incident shows.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40801

Iran Looms Large in Bush’s 11th Hour Tour
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40750

Official Version of Naval Incident Starts to Unravel
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40747

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Wounded Vets Trade One Hell for Another
Aaron Glantz
SAN FRANCISCO, California – Last year, the United States woke up to the reality of hundreds of thousands of soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan — and began to grapple with what to do about it.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40797

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IRAN: Enforcing Islamic Dress Code May Cost Votes
Kimia Sanati
TEHRAN – When the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad uncharacteristically denounced the country?s police force for strictly enforcing Islamic dress code (hijab) it was attributed to fears of losing popularity ahead of parliamentary elections in March.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40792

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IRAQ: Awoken to a New Danger
Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*
BAGHDAD – The newly formed ‘Awakening’ forces set up by the U.S. military are bringing new conflict among people. For months now the U.S. military has been actively building what it calls ‘Awakening’ forces and “concerned local citizens” in an effort to reduce attacks on occupation forces.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40781

Less Violent But Not Less Hellish
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40764

Civilian Deaths Massive by Any Measure
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40758

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IRAN: Top Campaigner Harassed, Hangings Increase
Kimia Sanati
TEHRAN – Emaddedin Baghi, Iran’s leading anti-death penalty campaigner, is back behind bars in the country’s notorious Evin prison after intense harassment leading to his hospitalisation and concern that he may have suffered a heart attack.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40773

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Canada Ponders Its Future in Afghanistan
Paul Weinberg
TORONTO – As the Conservative government of Stephen Harper awaits a panel report on Canada’s military role in Afghanistan beyond February 2009, when the current mandate expires, there is widespread unease among analysts on both sides of the North American border that operational decisions are deep-sixing political goals and about the possibility of a widening conflict.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40755

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On Anniversary, Views of Iraq Surge Diverge
Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON – Exactly one year after U.S. President Bush announced that he would significantly increase the number of troops deployed to Iraq, the wisdom of his so-called “surge” strategy remains very much in dispute here.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40749

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MIDEAST: U.S. Seen in Policy Retreat
Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – Recent months have witnessed several notable political reorientations in the Middle East, involving Iran, the Gulf states, Egypt and Lebanon. Several experts say the changes reflect a shift in Washington’s regional strategy following recent U.S. policy setbacks.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40742

For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp

Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/index.asp

Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/index.asp

Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/index.asp

Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/index.asp

View From the U.S.: Bush at War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/index.asp

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