North America - Inter Press Service

Home

About Us

Environment

Media &
Communications

What is RSS?

Global Affairs

Africa

Asia-Pacific
     Afghanistan
     Nepal
     Tsunami

Caribbean

Haiti

Europe
EU Expansion

Latin America

Mideast &
   Mediterranean
      Iraq
      Israel/Palestine

Columns

In Focus

ENGLISH

ESPAÑOL

FRANÇAIS

SVENSKA

ITALIANO

DEUTSCH

SWAHILI

MAGYAR

NEDERLANDS

POLSKI

ČESKY

ARABIC

SUOMI

PORTUGUÊS

JAPANESE

Thursday, May 17, 2012 1:15 GMT

Stories by Gareth Porter

Gareth Porter is an historian with a PhD in South-east Asian studies from Cornell University in New York state. He was Saigon Bureau Chief for Dispatch News Service in 1970 and 1971. Porter has taught international studies at City College of New York and American University and has written several books on Vietnam, the most recent being "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War", published by the University of California Press in 2005. He has also written on war and diplomacy in Cambodia, Korea and the Philippines. Porter has been a news analyst for IPS focusing on U.S. policy and developments in Iraq and Iran since September 2005.

U.S. Treasury Claim of Iran-Al-Qaeda "Secret Deal" Is Discredited
by Gareth Porter*
The U.S. Treasury Department's claim of a &com;secret deal&com; between Iran and Al-Qaeda, which had become a key argument by right-wing activists who support war against Iran, has been discredited by former intelligence officials in the wake of publication of documents from Osama bin Laden's files revealing a high level of antagonism between Al-Qaeda and Iran.

U.S.-Afghan Pact Won't End War – Or SOF Night Raids
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
The optics surrounding the Barack Obama administration's &com;Enduring Strategic Partnership&com; agreement with Afghanistan and the Memorandums of Understanding accompanying it emphasise transition to Afghan responsibility and an end to U.S. war.

Report on Iran's Nuclear Fatwa Distorts Its History
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
The Barack Obama administration's new interest in the 2004 religious verdict, or &com;fatwa&com;, by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banning the possession of nuclear weapons, long dismissed by national security officials, has prompted the New York Times to review the significance of the fatwa for the first time in several years.

U.S.-Israel Deal to Demand Qom Closure Threatens Nuclear Talks
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
The Barack Obama administration has adopted a demand in the negotiations with Iran beginning Saturday that its Fordow enrichment facility must be shut down and eventually dismantled based on an understanding with Israel that risks the collapse of the negotiations.

Karzai Demand on Night Raids Snags U.S.-Afghan Pact
by Gareth Porter and Shah Nouri
Nearly a year after the Barack Obama administration began negotiations with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, both sides confirmed last week that the talks are still hung up over the Afghan demand that night raids by U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) either be ended or put under Afghan control.

U.S. Leak on Israeli Attack Weakened a Warning to Netanyahu
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
When Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius this week that he believes Israel was likely to attack Iran between April and June, it was ostensibly yet another expression of alarm at the Israeli government's threats of military action.

Dempsey Told Israelis U.S. Won't Join Their War on Iran
by Gareth Porter*
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told Israeli leaders Jan. 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington, according to accounts from well-placed senior military officers.

U.S. Probe of Border Attack Hardened Pakistani Suspicions
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
The Pakistani military leadership's response to the U.S. report on its helicopter attack on two Pakistani border posts Nov. 26 assailed the credibility of the investigation by Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven Clark and expressed doubt that the attack could have been &com;accidental&com;.

In Signal to Israel and Iran, Obama Delays War Exercise
Analysis by Gareth Porter and Jim Lobe*
The postponement of a massive joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise appears to be the culmination of a series of events that has impelled the Barack Obama administration to put more distance between the United States and aggressive Israeli policies toward Iran.

Clinton Revives Dubious Charge of "Covert" Iranian Nuclear Site
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's charge Tuesday that Iran had intended to keep the Fordow site secret until it was revealed by Western intelligence revived a claim the Barack Obama administration made in September 2009.

More North American News