Obama: A New Era? / IPS Inter Press Service

IPS Correspondent Gareth Porter talks to Democracy Now!

Despite Obama’s pledge, new evidence has emerged that combat brigades will remain in Iraq under a different name.

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.

Obama Sits Down With IPS

OBAMA: "Subsidising Big Oil Makes No Sense"

Q&A: "I Appreciate This Unique Moment"

U.S.: Families Sue Over Guantanamo Deaths
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - The families of two prisoners who died at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, are asking a federal court to reconsider its ruling dismissing their lawsuit, which seeks to hold federal officials and the U.S. government accountable for their sons' torture, arbitrary detention, and ultimate deaths.
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CLIMATE CHANGE: A Year On, Little Change in Political Climate
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - This time last year, United States federal legislation on climate change was starting to take shape, seemingly more pressing matters were taking up the bulk of U.S. policymakers' time, and a major climate conference was looming at the end of the year.
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MIDEAST: Israel-U.S. Tensions Continue to Percolate
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - Despite assurances by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday that the United States and Israel share a "close, unshakeable bond", the week-old crisis between the two allies continued to percolate here Tuesday.
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MIDEAST: U.S.-Israeli Tensions Escalating Quickly
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - The crisis touched off by last week's announcement of Israel's plans to build 1,600 new homes for Jews in Arab East Jerusalem during a high-profile visit by U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden appears to be escalating rapidly.
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POLITICS: Policy Battle over Afghan Peace Talks Intensifies
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON - The struggle within the Barack Obama administration over Afghanistan policy entered a new phase when the president suggested at a meeting of his "war cabinet" Friday that it might be time to start negotiations with the Taliban, according to a report in the New York Times Saturday.
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US-ISRAEL: Tiff or Tipping Point?
Analysis by Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - "Condemn" is not a word that rolls trippingly off the tongue of a U.S. politician addressing anything having to do with actions, however objectionable, by Israel.
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RIGHTS: U.S. Concerned Over Curbs on NGOs, Press, Internet
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - Releasing its annual report on the state of human rights around the world, the U.S. State Department Thursday said it was increasingly concerned about curbs imposed by foreign governments on civil society groups, the press, and Internet use.
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SOMALIA: U.S. Should Accept Islamist Authority, Report Says
By Charles Fromm and Mohammed A. Salih
WASHINGTON - The United States should accept an "Islamist authority" in Somalia as part of a "constructive disengagement" strategy for the war-torn country, according to a new report released here by the influential Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on Wednesday.
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HAITI: U.S. Acts Quickly on Debt Relief Ahead of Preval Visit
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - With U.S. President Barack Obama preparing to host Haitian President Rene Preval at the White House Wednesday, Congress is moving quickly to show support for far-reaching debt relief and additional aid for the earthquake-stricken Caribbean nation.
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U.S.: ACLU Ad Challenges Military Commissions
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - Civil libertarians hit back hard Sunday at reports indicating that the Barack Obama administration is about to cave in to pressure from Congress and local groups in New York City and is not only considering transferring the cases of suspected terrorists to another federal court, but even moving them to the military commission system.
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POLITICS: Fiction of Marja as City Was U.S. Information War
By Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON - For weeks, the U.S. public followed the biggest offensive of the Afghanistan War against what it was told was a "city of 80,000 people" as well as the logistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand. That idea was a central element in the overall impression built up in February that Marja was a major strategic objective, more important than other district centres in Helmand.
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US-TURKEY: Armenian Genocide Vote Threatens Ties at Key Moment
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - Thursday's vote by a Congressional committee condemning the deaths of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as "genocide" is almost certain to complicate U.S. ties with Turkey, a long-time strategic ally and increasingly influential player in the Middle East and central and southwest Asia.
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RIGHTS-US: Senate Debates Indefinite Detentions
By William Fisher
NEW YORK - Civil liberties advocates and U.S. constitutional law scholars lost no time in condemning proposed legislation introduced in the Senate Thursday that would hand the government the power to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects without charge and to conduct trials through military commissions only.
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INDONESIA: U.S. Seeks to Resume Training of Controversial Military Unit
By Charles Fromm
WASHINGTON - The administration of President Barack Obama hopes to resume U.S. training of an elite Indonesian military unit whose members have been convicted of gross human rights abuses in East Timor and elsewhere in the sprawling archipelago.
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POLITICS: U.S. Still Noncommittal on Landmine Treaty
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - As the 11th anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty entering into effect came and went Monday, the United States remained one of only 37 countries to have yet to sign on to the agreement.
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U.S.: Healthcare Should Include Abortion Access, Women Say
By Armin Rosen
NEW YORK - Last fall, the push to reform healthcare in the United States was all but hijacked by one of the country's most passionate recurring cultural debates.
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US-MEXICO: Escalating Drug Violence Rooted in Northern Demand
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - As the war over health care continues in Washington and a war of a bloodier nature heats up in Ciudád Juárez and elsewhere in Mexico, top U.S. and Mexican officials are hoping to reduce both pressures on the health system and the ongoing bloodshed.
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Barack Obama's presidency is resonating with people around the world who hope for a new era of international cooperation and engagement with the tarnished superpower. But Obama has inherited wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a tanking economy, and global crises like climate change. IPS reports on the implications of the Obama administration not just for U.S. citizens, but for the world.