News Items

  • 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 11October 1991, 986 (1995) of 14 April 1995, and 1284 (1999) of 17 December 1999,and all the relevant statements of its President, PhyllisBennis, fellow at the Institute for PolicyStudies and author of the newbook Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11thCrisis:”According to…

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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 from the Iraqi regime’s own actions, its history of aggression and its drive toward an arsenal of terror. Chris Toensing, editor of Middle East Report: “This might indicate that Iraq is actively threatening the peace in the region. There is no evidence whatsoever that Iraq…

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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 1284 (1999) of 17 December 1999, and all the relevant statements of its President, PP2 Recognizing the threat Iraq’s noncompliance with Security Council resolutions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles poses to international peace and security, Rahul Mahajan [www.rahulmahajan.com], author of…

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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 of airliners at Beirut International Airport. http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/bdd57d15a29f428d85256c3800701fc4/74cff7bff73f9ea1852560c30061d11b!OpenDocument 353 (1974) Turkey: Calls on nations to respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Cyprus and for the withdrawal without delay of foreign troops from Cyprus. www.pio.gov.cy/docs/un/security_council/res_353.htm 379 (1975) Morocco: Calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces…

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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 ‘just war’ teaching that in theory can be used to judge any war. In practice, the teaching serves to bless rather than judge wars,” said Sister Evelyn Mattern, a program associate at the North Carolina Council of Churches. “For example, the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops…

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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, comprehensive and relentless” campaign against Taliban forces. According to the Washington Post, the attacks focused on Taliban strongholds in the south of Afghanistan, damaging airports and other military facilities in Kabul and Kandahar. Critics of the campaign questioned the approach behind these “strategic” strikes.

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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 still audible, the reports were already coming out. Bush’s approval rating had risen ten more points, to an astronomical 91 percent. His singling out of common citizens — some of whom sat in the audience — had captured the allegiance of skeptics. His calls for…

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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 structure that keeps the poor in poverty and further burdens disadvantaged families. The five-year-old legislation has in fact reduced welfare rolls. A White House report in 2000 said that the number of Americans on welfare had decreased from 5.5 percent in 1993 to 2.3 percent…

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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 suspicious of where the Bush administration’s true agenda lies. Big forest fires make the news every summer. Last year, over 7 million acres of U.S. land burned during wildfire season. Many forest advocates believe that wildfires are a naturally occurring, healthy phenomenon and should, to…

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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 the average eight days of vacation most U.S. small business employees receive each year, according to Joe Robinson, director of the Work to Live campaign. Robinson, declaring America to be “the most vacation-starved country in the industrialized world,” is one of many people leading the…

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  • Myth: Raising Taxes on Wealthy Kills Jobs

    CHUCK COLLINS, chuckcollins7 at mac.com Collins just wrote the piece “A Tax Plan to Rally Around: The Buffett Rule,” which states: “Over the last decade — and really over the last fifty years — the portion of income paid in taxes by our wealthiest citizens has steadily declined. In 1961, when Barack Obama was born,…

  • Wall Street Protests

    ABC News reports: “Protesters who vowed to ‘occupy Wall Street’ are holding their ground in downtown New York, and say they have no plans to leave anytime soon. “The protest started Saturday with a ‘Day of Rage,’ when thousands of people gathered in the Financial District and vowed to stay on Wall Street as long…

  • Palestinian UN Bid and Uniting for Peace

    The Wall Street Journal reports in “Palestinian UN Move Options at UN Lead to Legal Threat to Israel’s Military,” that: “If the Palestinian Authority succeeds in winning even an incremental upgrade of its status at the UN, it could subject Israel’s military to international courts for actions in Palestinian territory — as well as allow…

  • Japanese Delegation on Fukushima and Nuclear Safety

    A farming family from the now radioactively contaminated Fukushima region in Japan, along with one American and three leading Japanese anti-nuclear campaigners, will be available for interviews while visiting the U.S. The group will deliver eye-witness accounts about the health impacts and continued contamination produced by the Fukushima-Daiichi reactor units that suffered catastrophic damage on…

  • U.S. Vetoing Palestinian State It Claims to Support

    FRANCIS BOYLE, fboyle at law.uiuc.edu Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign and author of Palestine, Palestinians, and International Law, Boyle said today: “This week, President Obama has attacked the Palestinian UN membership bid as a ‘distraction’ and Secretary of State Clinton has claimed the U.S. ‘strongly supports’…

  • Solyndra: Partisan Politicking Obscures Growth of Solar Power

    The New York Times is reporting: “A House subcommittee released documents on Wednesday morning suggesting that a final review of more than $500 million in loan guarantees for Solyndra, a California solar company that recently declared bankruptcy, may have been rushed so that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. could announce its approval at a…

  • * Gender Poverty Gap * 50 Million Uninsured

    Census Bureau numbers released yesterday found that nearly one in six Americans are in poverty. The following are available to further analyze other findings: ELIZABETH GRAYER, TIMOTHY CASEY, tcasey at legalmomentum.org Grayer is president of Legal Momentum, Casey is senior staff attorney with the group, which just released the memo “Reading Between the Lines: Women’s…

  • * Ron Paul and 9/11 * Perry and Mandatory Vaccines

    At last night’s Republican candidate debate, Congressman Ron Paul said “There’s a difference between military spending and defense spending. I’m tired of all the militarism we’re involved in. … I agree, we’re in alot of danger but most of the danger comes from a lack of wisdom in our foreign policy. … We’re under grave…

  • Will Record Levels of Poverty Increase Further?

    On Tuesday morning, the Census Bureau will release this year’s poverty numbers. ALICE O’CONNOR, aoconnor at history.ucsb.edu Author of Poverty Knowledge: Social Science, Social Policy and the Poor in Twentieth Century U.S. History, O’Connor said today: “The Great Recession has sent millions more Americans below minimally acceptable standards of living, while heightening the extremes of…

  • Perry Executed 9/11 Hate Crimes Murderer Despite Victim’s Pleas

    At Wednesday night’s Republican debate, Texas Governor Rick Perry said (when talking about mandatory vaccines for girls and women) “I will always err on the side of saving lives.” Later in the evening, he drew cheers for his record number of 234 executions, saying “Americans understand justice.” Video of death penalty exchange. Full transcript.

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