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  • An Analysis of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441

    as Adopted on November 8, 2002 The Security Council, Recalling all its previous relevantresolutions, in particular its resolutions 661 (1990) of 6 August 1990, 678(1990) of 29 November 1990, 686 (1991) of 2 March 1991, 687 (1991) of 3 April1991, 688 (1991) of 5 April 1991, 707 (1991) of 15 August 1991, 715 (1991) of…

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  • Detailed Analysis of October 7, 2002 Speech by Bush on Iraq

    Thank you for that very gracious and warm Cincinnati welcome. I’m honored to be here tonight. I appreciate you all coming. Tonight I want to take a few minutes to discuss a grave threat to peace and America’s determination to lead the world in confronting that threat. The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly…

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  • A Detailed Analysis of the Draft UN Security Council Resolution Proposed by the U.S. Government

    (Latest publicly available version, October 23, 2002) PP1 Recalling all its previous relevant resolutions, in particular its resolutions 661 (1990) of 6 August 1990, 686 (1991) of 2 March 1991, 678 (1990) of 29 November 1990, 687 (1991) of 3 April 1991, 688 (1991) of 5 April 1991, 986 (1995) of 14 April 1995, and…

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  • UN Security Council Resolutions Being Violated by U.S. Allies

    The following are some of the UN Security Council resolutions being violated by U.S. allies: Resolution 252 (1968) Israel: Urgently calls upon Israel to rescind measures that change the legal status of Jerusalem, including the expropriation of land and properties thereon. http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/bdd57d15a29f428d85256c3800701fc4/46f2803d78a0488e852560c3006023a8!OpenDocument 262 (1968) Israel: Calls upon Israel to pay compensation to Lebanon for destruction…

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  • Is God “Neutral”?

    WASHINGTON — Ever since Sept. 11, some American religious leaders have been outspoken in calling for a peaceful response and respect for civil liberties. Their perspectives contrast sharply with President Bush’s bellicose invocations of religious rhetoric, as in his Sept. 20 address to Congress when he declared that “God is not neutral.” “Christians have a…

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  • As Bombs Fall, Critics Question U.S. Approach

    WASHINGTON – As the United States continued with air attacks on targets in Afghanistan, dubbed “strategic military locations” by Pentagon officials, peace advocates found their struggle pushed to the forefront. The U.S. strikes, comprised of cruise missiles launched from remote locations and bomber raids, were initial steps of what President Bush described as a “sustained,…

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  • Critics Blast Bush’s Call for “Lengthy Campaign”

    WASHINGTON – When President Bush took the national pulpit on September 20 to address a joint session of Congress, he faced perhaps his greatest challenge since his inauguration. Mainstream media pundits spoke at length of his need to rise to the occasion — to solidify the nation’s commitment to fighting terrorism. With the chamber’s applause…

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  • Rethinking Welfare Reform

    WASHINGTON — With re-authorization of key “welfare reform” legislation due in the coming year, activists are mobilizing to place the rights of minorities and women foremost on the agenda. Many indict the current system — established by the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act — as a racist and gender-biased…

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  • Uncontrolled Burn: How congress is adding fuel to the western wildfires

    As wildfires rage through woodland in the West, critics are questioning the federal government’s role in protecting the National Forests. Recently, President Bush proposed a $175 million increase in commercial timber sales on public lands — a move that, along with a planned repeal of the “roadless rule” established by former President Clinton, has many…

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  • Are Americans “Vacation Starved”?

    WASHINGTON — When President Bush clocked out to start on a 30-day vacation at his Texas ranch, a collective lament was in the air from much of the population: “When do we get a break?” The vacation brings to 52 days the president’s total vacation time since his swearing-in last January, a number that dwarfs…

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  • Pending Iraq Oil Law

    The issue of the pending Iraqi oil law was raised this morning at a news conference with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at the National Press Club. In a question, Sam Husseini of the Institute for Public Accuracy quoted from a January 16 article in Britain’s Guardian newspaper written by an…

  • The Internet: Democracy or Ad System?

    JEFF CHESTER Executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, Chester is author of the new book Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy. He said today: “Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace to make it an advertising delivery system. Google bought YouTube to make it an advertising delivery system. The industry giants are trying…

  • Iraq Legal Challenge: “Can the U.S. Kill Children Legally?”

    In 2002, the U.S. government fined a retired American engineer, Bert Sacks, $10,000 for traveling to Iraq to bring medicines with the humanitarian groups Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Voices in the Wilderness. At a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., at 1 p.m. on Tuesday (the 16th anniversary of…

  • War and Martin Luther King Jr.

    Following are excerpts from King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech at the Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his assassination. He was addressing the group Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam: “The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this…

  • Responses to Bush’s Speech

    MICHAEL McPHEARSON Executive director of Veterans for Peace, McPhearson was in the 1991 Gulf War and visited Iraq in 2003. His son has done a U.S. military tour in Iraq since the invasion and may be called back for any “surge.” More Information HOWARD ZINN Available for a limited number of interviews, Zinn’s most recent…

  • War and the Power of the Purse

    The Boston Globe noted Tuesday: “If Congress blocks funding for a surge in troops for Baghdad, as some Democrats are considering, President Bush would have little choice but to follow the law, legal specialists said yesterday.” The paper noted that even “legal scholars normally sympathetic to the executive branch agreed that Congress could stop the…

  • War Powers

    UPI is reporting: “If Congressional Democrats want to block any proposed escalation in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, as new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hinted at the weekend, they have the constitutional authority and the legal power to do so, according to some scholars.” The following legal analysts are available for media interviews: JOHN…

  • Somalia Strike

    The British Guardian is reporting: “The United States has launched air strikes against Islamists in southern Somalia, confirming the country’s status as a new frontline in Washington’s war on terror. “An AC130 warplane strafed the village of Hayo near the Kenyan border late yesterday afternoon leaving ‘many dead,’ according to the Somali government. Ras Kamboni,…

  • Bush’s Plan — for Iraq’s Oil

    The British newspaper The Independent reported in an in-depth story Sunday, titled “Future of Iraq: The Spoils of War — Blood and oil: How the West will profit from Iraq’s most precious commodity,” that: “So was this what the Iraq war was fought for, after all? As the number of U.S. soldiers killed since the…

  • · Lobbying · Earmarks · 9-11 Commission Recommendations

    The Democratic leadership has slated lobbying reform, addressing earmarks and the 9-11 Commission recommendations as among the first issues for the new Congress. The following analysts can address specific proposals as well as the general direction of domestic policies. SALLY KOHN Director of the Movement Vision Project, Kohn recently wrote the piece “An Agenda for…

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