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

MIDEAST: For the World, Gaza Is Reality TV
Mohammed Omer
GAZA CITY – “We are being starved, killed, tortured, and besieged — and all this while the world just watches,” says Abu Wael at the funeral of the latest group of Gazans killed by Israeli forces.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41178

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US: The Cat’s Pause
Analysis by Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON – As the man responsible for the health and strength of the U.S. military, Pentagon chief Robert Gates is increasingly finding himself between the devil and the deep blue sea.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41155

White House, Justice Won’t Renounce Waterboarding – By William Fisher
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41113

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IRAQ: US-Backed Groups Challenge Government
Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
BAQUBA – U.S. backed Sunni militants have challenged the U.S.-backed Iraqi government in Baghdad, and demanded political power after two women were killed by government forces.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41154

IRAQ: The Road to Learning Can Be Dangerous
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41141

IRAQ: More Bombing Creates New Enemies
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41122

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EGYPT: In spite of U.S., Cairo Welcomes Iranian Overtures
Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – In recent months, Washington has tried hard to convince Arab leaders of the threat to the Middle East posed by Iranian regional ambitions. Nevertheless, several recent visits to Egypt by top-level Iranian officials suggest that Cairo, despite U.S. objections, may be close to restoring diplomatic ties — severed for almost 30 years — with Tehran.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41164

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LEBANON: A New Struggle for Life After War
Rebecca Murray
TYRE – The solemn black-clad crowd rallied in Tyre’s downtown for the Muslim commemoration of Ashoura, which marks the battlefield death of Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, and an enduring symbol of resistance for the Shia in Lebanon. The population here is mostly Shia Muslims.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41163

LEBANON: Internal Conflict in Chilling Rise – Analysis by Mona Alami
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41153

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IRAN: Candidate Purge Smacks of a “Vendetta”, Critics Say
Omid Memarian*
BERKELEY – The mass disqualification of reformist parliamentary candidates by Iran’s Guardian Council, which oversees the electoral rolls, has diminished the possibility of fair elections on Mar. 14, observers say.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41160

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AFGHANISTAN: Women Speak Out On Sexual Abuse By Relations
Tahir Qadiry
MAZAR-E-SHARIF – Violence against women perpetrated by a member of the woman’s family or someone known to her appears endemic in Afghanistan.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41157

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MIDEAST: Will Netanyahu Surge Oust Olmert?
Bill Berkowitz*
OAKLAND – One day after the Jan. 30 release of the Winograd Commission report, which in part detailed some of the failures of the Israeli government and the military during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41147

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IRAN: Fishing In Troubled Caspian Waters
Analysis by Kimia Sanati
TEHRAN – The unresolved issue of dividing the Caspian Sea among its five littoral states has become a sensitive one for many Iranians who allege a concession to Russia may be in the making by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, in return for supporting Iran’s nuclear policies.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41142

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TURKEY: This Turban Could Bring Trouble
Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas
ANKARA – Thanks to an alliance between the ruling Justice and Development (AK) and Nationalist Action (MH) parties, the Turkish Grand National Assembly has approved legislation to lift the ban on wearing the Muslim headscarf for female students at universities.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41140

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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