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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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  • Deal with Iran?

    SELIG HARRISON Available for a very limited number of interviews, Harrison is director of the Asia program at the Center for International Policy and author of five books on nonproliferation and Asian affairs. He said today: “What Iran’s going to say is that they agreed to suspend their uranium enrichment before because the European Union…

  • Iraq and Afghanistan: Turning Point or Going in Circles?

    KHALIL BENDIB Bendib is a cartoonist; his first collection of cartoons is titled “It Became Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It!” His latest cartoon depicts Bush repeatedly claiming to be reaching a “turning point” in Iraq while in fact he is just going around in circles; see it here. Bendib said…

  • Exit Strategy

    MOUNZER SLEIMAN Sleiman is Washington bureau chief for the magazine Almustaqbal Alarabi, which is published by the Center for Arab Unity Studies, based in Beirut, Lebanon. The director of the Center for Arab Unity Studies, Dr. Kheir deen Haseeb, an Iraqi native, recently proposed a 21-point plan to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and…

  • · Iran and Israeli Nukes · Iran Peace Offer Rebuffed?

    “Iran has followed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent letter to President Bush with explicit requests for direct talks on its nuclear program, according to U.S. officials, Iranian analysts and foreign diplomats,” the Washington Post reported in a front-page article on May 24. “The eagerness for talks demonstrates a profound change in Iran’s political orthodoxy, emphatically erasing…

  • Memorial Day

    CELESTE ZAPPALA ELAINE JOHNSON NANCY LESSIN “It serves no purpose to have more and more servicemen and women die in an unjust and unjustifiable war, and have more families experience the unbearable and unending pain that my family has experienced,” said Celeste Zappala, mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker, the first Pennsylvania National Guardsman to die…

  • Enron Convictions

    GREG PALAST Palast is an internationally recognized expert on regulation of power markets and coauthor of the book Regulation and Democracy. He said today: “Just like Al Capone, who went to jail for failing to file his taxes, Lay is convicted merely of stock fraud. This is nothing compared to the manipulation by Lay and…

  • Mr. Olmert Goes to Congress

    The Jerusalem Post is reporting today: “Amid a lengthy round of applause, including a standing ovation from U.S. lawmakers, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the U.S. Congress…” EDWARD L. PECK EUGENE BIRD Peck, a former chief of mission to Iraq, was deputy director of the White House Task Force on Terrorism in the Reagan administration.…

  • Why Won’t the U.S. Acknowledge Israel’s Nuclear Weapons?

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meets with U.S. President Bush today and speaks to a joint meeting of both chambers of Congress on Wednesday. The U.S. government does not publicly acknowledge Israel’s nuclear weapons arsenal. MORDECHAI VANUNU Vanunu is a former Israeli nuclear technician who in 1986 revealed through The Sunday Times of London the…

  • Rep. Murtha and Haditha

    JOHN SIFTON Sifton is a researcher with Human Rights Watch. He said today: “Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine colonel, has provided key new facts about the Haditha incident. If what Rep. Murtha is saying regarding the Haditha incident is indeed true, this can only be considered a serious war crime. Retaliations…

  • Hayden and Warrantless Surveillance

    CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON Professor of Communication at American University and author of the books Blowback, Science of Coercion and National Security Directives of the Reagan and Bush Administrations, Simpson said today: “There are two problems here: One is that the capability to collect this type of information is built into the networks involved. The other is…

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