ALI ABUNIMAH
Vice president of the Arab-American Action Network, Abunimah drove from Chicago to New York City just after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. His writings since then have elicited substantial response. He said today: “While we grieve and come to terms with this outrage, people in the Mideast and in the U.S. need to start genuine dialogue on how they experience and perceive each other.”
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STEPHEN SHALOM
MICHAEL ALBERT
Shalom is professor of political science at William Paterson University in New Jersey and author of Imperial Alibis. Albert is editor of Z Magazine. They have written a question-and-answer piece on the current crisis, at the above web page. Among the points they make: “We have real, substantive options besides those presented by the administration. The best way to deal with terrorism is to address its root causes. Perhaps some terrorism would exist even if the grievances of the people of the Third World were dealt with — grievances that lead to anger, despair, frustration, feelings of powerlessness, and hatred — but certainly the ability of those who would commit terror without grievances to recruit others would be tremendously reduced…. Calling for Pakistan to cut off food aid to Afghanistan, as the U.S. has already done, would likely lead to starvation on a huge scale….”
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PERVEZ HOODBHOY
Hoodbhoy is the author of Islam and Science and professor of physics at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan. During summers, he is visiting professor at the University of Maryland. He said today: “Samuel Huntington’s evil desire for a clash between civilizations may well come true after last Tuesday’s terror attacks. The crack that divided Muslims everywhere from the rest of the world is no longer a crack. It is a gulf, that if not bridged, will surely destroy both.”
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EDWARD HERMAN
Professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, author of The Real Terror Network and co-author of Manufacturing Consent, Herman said today: “Many have opined that a distaste for ‘Western civilization and cultural values’ fuels terrorism, but large numbers outside this country believe that Western civilization has hurt them badly. Corporate globalization has unleashed an impoverishment process on the Third World, through the ruthless imposition of a neoliberal regime that serves Western transnational corporate interests and is buttressed by a willingness to use unlimited force to achieve Western corporate and political ends.”
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MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY
Chossudovsky is professor of economics at the University of Ottawa and author of the book The Globalization of Poverty and the recent piece “Who Is Osama Bin Laden?” He said today: “The imminent shift from civilian into military production would pour wealth into the hands of military contractors at the expense of civilian needs. Behind the Bush administration is the power of the ‘big five’ military contractors (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon et al.), increasingly in partnership with the oil-energy giants, which are behind many of the regional wars and insurgencies along strategic oil pipelines.”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167