The US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals March 17 upheld a military judge's dismissal of the charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the top-ranking US Marine to face court-martial in the killing of 24 Iraqis at Haditha. The court affirmed the appearance of "unlawful command influence" when a lawyer who had investigated the case sat in on meetings at which the case was discussed with the general who ultimately decided to charge Chessani.

From US Labor Against the War (USLAW), March 17:

At the first International Labor Conference ever held in Iraq, three of the country's major labor organizations announced the formation of a new labor confederation. At the close of the two day meeting of Iraqi unions with their international allies, Iraq's powerful Federation of Oil Unions, the nationwide Electricity Association and the General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions signed an agreement to create a new labor confederation, a step toward unifying the Iraqi labor movement as an advocate for the interests of Iraqi workers.

The number of immigrants detained by the US has drastically increased over the last decade, according to an AP report issued March 15. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, obtain by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), indicates that on Jan. 25, 32,000 individuals were detained in the US. This is nearly five times the 6,785 that were detained in 1994.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani announced March 16 that the government will reinstate deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in response to the opposition protests. In a televised address, Gilani announced that Chaudhry and other deposed judges will be reinstated March 21, when the current chief justice retires. Gilani ordered the releaseof all arrested during the past week's "long march" protest, which began March 12.

Shortly after El Salvador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal issued its second bulletin confirming the FMLN's lead late March 15, president-elect Mauricio Funes addressed the nation, saying that with their vote the people had signed "a new accord on peace and reconciliation"—an invocation of the 1992 agreement that ended the country's long civil war and saw the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) transform from a guerilla army to an electoral party.

The Irish Times notes March 14 that when former ambassador Chas Freeman was picked last month to chair the National Intelligence Council (NIC), few US newspapers reported the appointment. Freeman's withdrawal last week was front page news, however—because of his blistering parting shot at the "Israel Lobby" he claimed had brought him down. The case opens a window into the intra-elite paleo-neocon wars still playing themselves out in the Barack Obama administration.

On March 8, Iranian intelligence agents raided the home of Ali Nejati, president of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company Workers' Syndicate (Khuzestan province), and arrested him. This follows a Feb. 28 raid, in which agents searched his home and confiscated documents related to the Syndicate. Within recent weeks, seven other leaders of the Syndicate have been arrested on charges of violating "national security," and mostly released on bail.

Pakistan opposition leader and ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif March 15 defied a house arrest order to lead a march by opposition activists and members of the Pakistan lawyers' movement against President Asif Ali Zardari and his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The government had ordered Sharif and many of his supporters to remain in their homes, but Sharif said the order was illegal, and lead an estimated crowd of 10,000 in the Lahore protest calling for full reinstatement of judges ousted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in November 2007 after his declaration of emergency rule. During the march, protesters reportedly damaged police vehicles used to block roadways in the city, and police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several high-ranking police officials resigned from their posts in protest of the repression.