News Items

  • Calls to Suspend Syrian Refugee and Other Recent Anti-Muslim Statements by Government Officials

    Compiled by the Institute for Public Accuracy with Arun Kundnani and Deepa Kumar. Kundnani said: “While it’s very easy to denounce Trump’s recent repugnant, bullying statements — and much of the political class has — it’s important to keep several things in mind: First, as the compilation of statements by elected officials makes clear, he made these statements after many officials from across the country made scores of statements playing on unfounded fears against Syrian refugees and other Muslims.”

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  • Classified Politics: A System and a Clinton in Disrepute

    It is most unlikely, however, that Hillary Clinton will fall victim to accusations that rely on improper over-­classification. The State Department and White House, including President Obama himself, sought to protect her and to minimize the effects of her behavior. The case is extremely high­-profile, Democrats in Congress would attack any borderline classification, and a host of well-­paid lawyers would rise to her defense. Improperly classified items or those deemed Sensitive but Unclassified may be redacted from publicly released documents, but it is hard to imagine that Mrs. Clinton would be falsely accused of felonies.

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  • Video of Sterling News Conference

    Please enjoy the full video of Holly Sterling’s news conference, which was her first such appearance since her husband’s trial and imprisonment. The news conference also featured Thomas Drake, Delphine Halgand, Ray McGovern, and Jesselyn Radack.

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  • Open Letter to President Obama from Holly Sterling

    Does the government have no shame in destroying one man’s life and wasting tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to punish a man who had the audacity to do two things: Stand up for his constitutional rights and utilize proper channels provided to him to express concern for the citizens of our country? I am deeply saddened by our lives’ events that Jeffrey and I have suffered and endured. You publicly committed to a transparent government led by your administration, yet it has been shrouded in mistruth and secrecy.

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  • Unprecedented News Conference: Wife of Imprisoned CIA Whistleblower to Speak Out

    Jeffrey Sterling was convicted under the Espionage Act as a source for New York Times reporter James Risen’s book State of War. He began serving his three-and-a-half year prison sentence in June. His wife’s news conference will be the first time the spouse of a CIA whistleblower has made such an appearance.

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  • Cultural Shift Needed on Police Militarization

    Police militarization is a 25 year long trend that has only grown in momentum over time. The restrictions on militaristic gear directed by the White House while important symbolically, will certainly not substantively impact this trend in and of itself. Police militarization at this point is as much a cultural problem as it is a material one, and reversing the cultural trend toward police militarization will require more far reaching efforts.

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  • Watch the Short Documentary “The Invisible Man: CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling”

    “‘The federal courtroom in northern Virginia where Holly and Jeffrey Sterling returned for the sentencing on May 11 was the scene of a disturbing, though scantly reported, simulation of justice in late January. At the outset, covering the trial, I noted that ‘prospective jurors made routine references to ‘three-letter agencies’ and alphabet-soup categories of security clearances.’ Steeped in a local atmosphere of deference to mega-employers like the CIA and Pentagon along with numerous big contracting firms nearby, ‘the jury pool was bound to please the prosecution.’”

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  • On Jeffrey Sterling: From the Filmmaker of “Invisible Man”

    “The most shocking element of this story it that Jeffrey Sterling seems to be punished because he ‘pulled on Superman’s cape’ first with a racial discrimination suit they were able to squash and then by reporting what he considered a dangerous CIA operation to the proper government channels for hearing such a concern.”

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  • News Conference: Whistleblowers Weigh In on Policy

    William Binney (NSA), Thomas Drake (NSA), Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers), Raymond McGovern (CIA), Jesselyn Radack (Justice Department), Coleen Rowley (FBI) and Kirk Wiebe (NSA) spoke at this news conference, sponsored by ExposeFacts.org, a project of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

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  • Netanyahu Victory Opens Door for One-State Solution

    Just before the election, Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu ruled out the creation of a Palestinian State, which means that he repudiated the two-state solution to the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This has been the pronounced objective of American foreign policy since the Madrid Conference and the Middle East Peace Negotiations in 1991 held under the auspices of the United States government and with the full support of the international community.

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  • Iraq Oil Law: Mission Accomplished?

    AP is reporting: “The Iraqi Cabinet has approved a draft law to manage the country’s vast oil industry and distribute its wealth among the population. Parliament will take up the measure when it reconvenes early next month after a recess. “With all major parties endorsing the bill, approval is likely, although some politicians predicted a…

  • Schwarzenegger on Health Care: People or Profits?

    In his speech at the National Press Club yesterday emphasizing his health care proposals and “bipartisanship,” California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said: “Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you don’t have to give up your principles at all. But isn’t the ultimate principle to serve the people? To do the things that are good for the people?”…

  • Study: 16 Million Americans in Dire Poverty

    McClatchy Newspapers published an analysis on poverty today. It reports: “The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation’s ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ continues to widen. “A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005…

  • Arrests at Congressional Offices

    Arrests occurred in several states yesterday and today as peace activists pushed for commitments from elected officials to vote against President Bush’s request for an additional $93 billion to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Arrests occurred in Fairbanks, Alaska; Chicago, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; Portland, Oregon; and St. Louis, Missouri. Office occupations were also underway…

  • Safety Alarms at Nuclear Weapons Factory

    The Los Angeles Times featured a front-page piece on Wednesday headlined “Safety Alarms Raised at Nuclear Weapons Plant,” which reports: “Electrical failures have shut down the plant. The roof has leaked. Decrepit machinery dates back more than 40 years. Safety lapses led inspectors to levy fines twice within two years. And employees, under deadline pressure,…

  • Rice and Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Empty Theatrics?

    AP is reporting today: “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas were scheduled to hold separate meetings in Berlin on the pact he made with Hamas.” JEFF HALPER Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a professor of anthropology, Halper is author of Obstacles to Peace: Reframing the Israel-Palestine Conflict…

  • Leaked Iraqi Oil Law

    The New York Times reported this week: “A draft version of the long-awaited law that would govern the development of Iraqi oil fields and the distribution of oil revenues has been submitted to Iraq’s cabinet, the first step toward approving the legislation, two members of a senior negotiating committee said this weekend.” A leaked copy…

  • Iran: Claims and Context

    DAVID BARSAMIAN Barsamian has just returned from Iran and is author of the forthcoming book Targeting Iran. He said today: “Virtually everything the Bush administration has done has made things more difficult for Iranian reformers. The moderate Khatami government helped the U.S. oust the Taliban in 2001; in return Bush called Iran part of the…

  • Former NSC Official Contradicts Rice on Iran Peace Offer

    Reuters reports today — in a piece headlined “Ex-aide says Rice misled Congress on Iran” — that “Controversy over a possible missed U.S. opportunity for rapprochement with Iran grew on Wednesday as former aide accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of misleading Congress on the issue. “Flynt Leverett, who worked on the National Security Council…

  • Exxon, AEI and Climate Change

    BRENDA EKWURZEL Ekwurzel is a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, which recently released a report titled “Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air: How ExxonMobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to ‘Manufacture Uncertainty’ on Climate Change.” The report states: “ExxonMobil has funneled nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to a network of 43 advocacy…

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