Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The United States is seeking the approval of the new interim government in Baghdad for a joint UK-U.S. resolution that will legitimize the continuing military occupation of Iraq. Iraq’s newly-anointed foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, is due to arrive in New York later this week to voice his government’s support for the … Continue reading “US Seeks Iraqi Nod for Continued Occupation”

UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – As the United Nations gears up to dispatch thousands of new troops into political trouble spots in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, its peacekeeping missions are being undermined by a shortage of funds, unpaid debts and charges of sexual abuse against women and children caught in the crossfire. The growing problems … Continue reading “UN: Bullies and Beggars”

UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) – Presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for September in Afghanistan could be jeopardized by rising violence, poor voter registration, a shortfall in funding and a deteriorating security situation in the country, a senior U.N. official warned Thursday. Assuming voting goes ahead as planned, the legitimacy of the next Afghan government could be … Continue reading “Security, Low Voter Registration Threaten Afghan Polls”

The United States and Britain are asking the U.N. Security Council to transfer political and administrative power to Iraq while holding back sovereign power that legitimately belongs to the Iraqi people, say critics of the move proposed Monday. A five-page draft resolution, co-sponsored by the allies, calls for the formation of a “sovereign interim government” … Continue reading “US Offers Iraq ‘Sovereignty Lite’”

The United States is pushing for a new U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at exempting its troops from prosecution for war crimes when they serve in any U.N. peacekeeping operations. If granted, the request would renew an exemption first permitted in 2000 and grudgingly repeated by the world body in 2003. It comes as the … Continue reading “US Wants One-Year Extension of UN Exemption from War Crimes Law”

As the United Nations prepares to organize elections and help create a new interim government in Iraq starting in July, skepticism is growing about the wisdom of risking UN lives in a country swirling in violence and chaos.. The UN mission in Iraq is bound to fail, predict many Middle East analysts and UN staffers, … Continue reading “UN Warned of Death Trap in Iraq”

According to a joke circulating in Washington political circles, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s notorious torture chamber in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad – once held up as a symbol of barbarity – was never shut down. A signboard outside the prison chamber now reads: “Under New Management.” US management, that is. The extent … Continue reading “Iraq Scandal Opens US to Charges of Double Standards”

The growing instability in Afghanistan – a country under virtual military occupation by U.S. and other western forces – has been overshadowed by news of the escalating violence, torture and killings in U.S.-administered Iraq. But analysts who closely monitor the region say security in Afghanistan remains “tenuous” and “has shown no signs of improvement.” And … Continue reading “Afghanistan Starting to Look Like Iraq”

As violence continues to escalate in Iraq, killing dozens of soldiers and hundreds of civilians, the United Nations remains ambivalent about its own ability to help salvage a country on the brink of disaster. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been dragging his feet over the appointment of a new special representative for Iraq to succeed … Continue reading “Annan: Never a UN Force in Iraq”

Despite a rash of suicide attacks and roadside bombings directed at US troops and foreigners in Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is preparing to send a team of UN officials back to Baghdad to help Iraqis hold elections and form a new civilian government. “We are all very conscious of the security conditions (in Iraq), and … Continue reading “US Arm-Twists Iraqis to Seek UN Help Before June 30”