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News Items

  • Election Reforms: Falling short

    WASHINGTON — Proponents of progressive election reform gave cautious approval to the recent report issued by a commission assigned to investigate the improvement of federal elections. Many critics, however, point to several obstacles that remain in the way of free and fair elections throughout the United States. The report, issued by the National Commission on Federal Election Reform headed by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, was presented to President Bush. Among its recommendations are provisions regarding increases in equipment standards and stepped-up federal funding for the administration of elections.

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  • Son of Star Wars: Another arms race?

    WASHINGTON — Reports emerging from the Pentagon about plans to test a “Space Bomber” are drawing accusations that the U.S. government is attempting to engage in another arms race. The bomber, a spacecraft reportedly capable of destroying targets on the other side of the globe within 30 minutes, is a key component of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s plan to modernize U.S. weaponry. The satellite is currently under production by NASA and Lockheed Martin, a leading military contractor. Pentagon claims that the bomber can cause greater and deeper ground damage from a virtually unassailable height have many critics questioning it as…

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  • ExxonMobil: Facing a boycott

    ExxonMobil, one of the biggest corporations on the planet, is now facing a boycott spearheaded by activist groups protesting the company’s policies at home and abroad. The boycott was launched by PressurePoint, a grassroots organization looking to “take real action on climate change and corporate influence,” according to Chris Doran, campaigns director for the group. “The U.S. government’s climate change policy is the ExxonMobil policy,” Doran says. “What sort of democracy do we have when one company can buy off our political process for its own gains?” ExxonMobil is a charter member of the Global Climate Coalition, an influential industry…

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  • Beyond the Ford-Firestone Uproar: Critics blast lack of regulation, accountability in SUV safety

    WASHINGTON – Recent congressional hearings probed the accountability of Ford and Firestone in many incidents where car or tire malfunctioned, causing injury or death. The hearings also questioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal government’s chief regulator of automobile safety, and its role in providing the public with adequate information. While the blame-placing among corporate executives and congressional subcommittees occurred on Capitol Hill, several analysts decried the lack of accountability being demanded of the corporations involved. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, pointed to a lack of regulation of sport utility vehicles and rollover standards.

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  • NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM

    Questions from IPA appear below in bold HEADLINE: NEWS BRIEFING WITH LAWRENCE SUMMERS, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RAYMOND OFFENHEISER, PRESIDENT, OXFAM DEBT RELIEF TO POOR COUNTRIES AND OXFAM EDUCATION NOW AWARD INTRODUCTION: MARTA ARIAS LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, WASHINGTON D.C. BODY:

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  • Ten Real Reasons To Impeach Clinton

    We all seem to have lost our sense of proportion. Why are the political leaders of the United States and the major media talking of impeaching Bill Clinton for lies about sex, surely not the most important sins of his administration? If Clinton is to be impeached, why do it for frivolous reasons? I can think of at least ten reasons to impeach him, for acts far more serious than his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky or his lies to Kenneth Starr. I am speaking of matters of life and death for large numbers of people. 1. Clinton approved, very early…

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  • Autopsy Of A Disaster: The U.S. Sanctions Policy On Iraq

    For a shorter version of this timeline, click here. Myth: The Sanctions Will be Lifted When Iraq Complies with the U.N. Inspections April 3, 1991: U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 687 which states that upon “the completion by Iraq of all actions contemplated in” specific paragraphs of the resolution, “the prohibitions against financial transactions … shall have no further force or effect.” The paragraphs cited have to do with weapons inspections. Other paragraphs in the resolution have to do with “return of all Kuwaiti property seized by Iraq” and Iraqi liability for losses and damage resulting from Iraq’s occupation of…

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  • Whistleblowers Ellsberg, Gun Call for Massive Leaks on Iran

    KATHARINE GUN Shortly before the U.S./U.K. invasion of Iraq, in early 2003, Gun was a British government employee when she leaked a U.S. intelligence memo indicating that the U.S. had mounted a spying “surge” against delegations on the U.N. Security Council in an effort to win approval for an invasion of Iraq. President Bush continues…

  • Upheaval at World Bank and IMF Meetings

    Reuters is reporting that “World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz on Friday called Singapore’s restrictions on the entry of activists for the World Bank/IMF meetings ‘authoritarian.’” The news service added: “The city-state has put 27 civil rights activists on a blacklist for entry to the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, and some would-be…

  • IAEA: Congress Panel Cooking Intel on Iran

    The Washington Post is reporting today: “U.N. inspectors investigating Iran’s nuclear program angrily complained to the Bush administration and to a Republican congressman yesterday about a recent House committee report on Iran’s capabilities, calling parts of the document ‘outrageous and dishonest’ and offering evidence to refute its central claims.” CARAH ONG Ong is Iran Policy…

  • Bush’s Plans for Detention and Eavesdropping

    MICHAEL RATNER Ratner is president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is holding a news conference in D.C. today with family members of Guantanamo detainees. He will discuss the two bills proposed by President Bush and Senator Warner to legislate military commissions. Ratner said today: “However problematic the [proposed military] commissions are, they are…

  • 9/11 Victims’ Families Host Conference Against Terrorism

    Marking the fifth anniversary of 9/11, more than 30 victims of political violence from around the world will gather with 9/11 families for a conference highlighting solutions to terrorism that break the cycle of violence. The gathering is being initiated by September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization founded by family members of those…

  • Environmental Fallout of WTC Attack

    JUAN GONZALEZ Available for a very limited number of interviews, Gonzalez is author of the book Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse, which came out in 2002. He co-hosts the program “Democracy Now!” and will be moderating a community forum this evening at St. Paul’s Church, near the site of the…

  • Realities of Afghanistan: Behind the Rhetoric

    SONALI KOLHATKAR JAMES INGALLS Kolhatkar and Ingalls are co-authors of the book Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence, which is being released next week. They are co-directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission. Kolhatkar said today: “All too often, discussion of U.S. policy in Afghanistan focuses exclusively on the crimes of others. The…

  • Views of Bush Stance on Detainees, Torture and War

    MARJORIE COHN Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, Cohn said: “Today, Bush criticized the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld because it will put a crimp in the CIA’s interrogation program. The Court declared that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions protects all prisoners…

  • Unrest Over Election-Rigging Charges in Mexico

    The Los Angeles Times reported this morning: “As President Vicente Fox prepares to deliver his final state of the nation address today, Mexico remains divided over who should be declared his successor, and many fear an escalation in unrest by protesters who feel betrayed by the electoral institutions Fox is expected to applaud in his…

  • Confronting Iran

    MUHAMMAD SAHIMI Sahimi is professor of chemical engineering at the University of Southern California. He co-wrote, with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, the Los Angeles Times op-ed “Defusing Iran with Democracy.” Sahimi said today: “The only way to have a peaceful resolution of Iran’s nuclear program is through negotiations without any preconditions and/or threats.…

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