Today the New York Times reports that according to lawyers involved in the Valerie Plame case, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Lewis Libby first learned of Plame’s identity from Cheney; this would appear to contradict Libby’s prior testimony. Also today, Detlev Mehlis — the prosecutor in charge of the UN investigation into the…

SAMAR ASSAD Assad is executive director of the Palestine Center in Washington. She said today: “Obviously, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wants to get permanent status talks going with Sharon and would like to see Bush get Sharon to negotiate. What’s crucial is that negotiations be about substantial issues: the seaport, the territorial link between…

RICHARD FALK Falk is an emeritus professor of international law at Princeton University, currently visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of the book The Great Terror War. He said today: “Saddam Hussein is certainly an appropriate target of a war crimes trial. But it’s obscure exactly what is being undertaken…

FRANCES FOX PIVEN Author of the book The War at Home: The Domestic Costs of Bush’s Militarism, Piven said today: “Americans are beginning to recognize the recklessness and incompetence of this administration in launching an invasion of Iraq. We saw recklessness and incompetence again in the failure to prepare for Katrina, or to mobilize to…

President George W. Bush used the words “peace” or “peaceful” 11 times in brief remarks Monday at the White House. Meanwhile, the AP reported on the same day: “U.S. warplanes and helicopters bombed two villages near the restive city of Ramadi, killing an estimated 70 militants, the military said Monday, though witnesses said at least…

KEVIN GRAY A contributing editor for Black News in Columbia, S.C., Gray is author of the forthcoming book The Death of Black Politics. He said today: “Recent events — the response to Hurricane Katrina, Bill Bennett’s comments, the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March, the video of New Orleans police bloodying a retired teacher…

DAHR JAMAIL Jamail is an independent journalist who reported for eight months from inside Iraq, including the city of Fallujah. He said today: “Two ongoing U.S. military operations in the primarily Sunni province of al-Anbar will make voting in the critical constitutional referendum more difficult for Iraqis in that region. With thousands of families now…

ANAS SHALLAL Shallal is an independent Iraqi-American business owner in Washington, D.C. He said today: “As I talk to more and more Iraqis, it’s clear that most do not think this constitution is a good idea. Even many Iraqis who were among the main boosters for the war are speaking out against this constitution, like…

This morning, President Bush gave a speech at the National Endowment for Democracy. He said that “we stand for democracy and peace” and that Syria and Iran “share the goal of hurting America.” The following analysts are available for interviews about U.S. government policy: TALA DOWLATSHAHI Dowlatshahi is a spokesperson for Reporters Without Borders. The…

MARJORIE COHN Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and executive vice president of the National Lawyers Guild. She has written a piece titled “Harriet Miers: Bush’s Pit Bull,” which will be posted on TruthOut.org today. She said: “Bush has nominated his Texas crony as a stealth appointment. Although the Senate will…