ROBERT PARRY Parry, a former reporter for The Associated Press and Newsweek, has written a number of books about Washington politics including, most recently, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq. He said today: “President Bush’s decision to spare Scooter Libby from jail time represents the final step in a…

In a statement about commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence, President Bush said: “I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive.” KEVIN and MONICA BENDERMAN Kevin Benderman said today: “I was imprisoned for 14 months after trying to apply for conscientious objector status after seeing the reality of the Iraq war.”…

RACHEL SMOLKER Research biologist at the Global Justice Ecology Project, Smolker said today: “In just the past week [the U.S. government] permitted field testing of a eucalyptus genetically engineered specifically for biofuel production, a $375 million DOE grant was made to fund three major bioenergy research centers, BP and DuPont fronted most of $400 million…

AP is reporting that “South Korea’s largest labor union escalated a strike Thursday against the country’s free trade agreement with the U.S. as the two governments tried to make last-minute changes to the deal before its scheduled signing later this week.” SIN MOON HEE CHRISTINE AHN Sin Moon Hee is with the Korean Women’s Peasants…

In the past few weeks, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and the chief U.S. commander in the Mideast, Admiral William Fallon, have all traveled to Baghdad to press Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to pass a controversial oil law. Five Nobel Peace Prize laureates have just released a statement…

The Associated Press reports today: “Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s cabinet approved a U.S.-backed draft oil law and the Parliament is expected to start discussing it next week.” The law, which institutes privileges for foreign companies at a level unseen anywhere else in the Middle East, has been challenged inside and outside Iraq. The Iraqi…

The Associated Press is reporting today that NATO air strikes “left 25 civilians dead.” AP also reports that NATO “blamed [the insurgents] for the deaths of any innocents, saying they had launched ‘irresponsible’ attacks from civilian homes.” This week, Reuters reported: “At least seven children were killed in a U.S.-led coalition air strike on a…

AMJAD SHAWA Shawa is Palestinian NGO Network coordinator for Gaza. The group just released an urgent statement on the health care situation: “In the last few days, the Gaza Strip has witnessed dramatic serious incidents which resulted in tens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. This has dramatic consequences for the political, economic and social…

This week, talks on banning cluster weapons will be held in Geneva within the framework on the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, ratified by 100 countries. Last month, 68 national governments conferred in Lima, Peru, to ban cluster weapons. SCOTT STEDJAN Stedjan is the legislative secretary for the Friends Committee on National Legislation and…

JAMES PAUL CELINE NAHORY Paul is executive director of Global Policy Forum, which has just released a 117-page report titled “War and Occupation in Iraq.” He said today: “While most people focus on the sectarian bloodshed, our report highlights the enormous violence of the occupation forces. There is an increasing air war that results in…