News Releases

  • A Message to the Iraqi National Assembly from the Honorable Nick Rahall

    I want to thank you for the traditional Iraqi hospitality that our delegation has received since coming to Baghdad. We are all aware of the grave crisis presently facing our two countries, the United States and Iraq. I am concerned about the effects that a new war would have on both our countries. For that reason I come as an advocate of peace through dialogue. Ours is a humanitarian mission. I come, not as the Secretary of State, and not as a weapons inspector, but as a member of Congress concerned with peace. Basically, I want America and Iraq to…


  • American Delegation En Route to Baghdad

    An independent American delegation to Iraq, led by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and former Sen. James Abourezk, is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad on Friday night (Sept. 13). The delegation also includes James Jennings, president of Conscience International, an Atlanta-based humanitarian aid and human rights organization, and Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The following policy analysts and commentators are available for interviews: DENIS HALLIDAY Halliday is former head of the UN oil-for-food program and a former UN Assistant Secretary General. He is currently in his native Ireland. He said today: “Any dialogue between the U.S.…


  • The United States, the World and War

    SUSAN WRIGHT Wright is co-author of Preventing a Biological Arms Race and of the forthcoming Biological Warfare and Disarmament: New Problems/New Perspectives. She said today: “If Saddam Hussein has had any inclination to wage war against other Middle Eastern states, deterrence seems to have worked — as it worked between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. On the other hand, war against Iraq would most likely generate a situation in which he would be tempted to use weapons of mass destruction…” FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law…


  • Independent American Delegation to Baghdad

    An independent American delegation, led by Rep. Nick Rahall and former Sen. James Abourezk, is scheduled to arrive in Baghdad on Friday night (Sept. 13). Rahall, of West Virginia, is currently serving his 13th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Abourezk represented South Dakota in the United States Senate. The delegation also includes: James Jennings, president of Conscience International, an Atlanta-based humanitarian aid and human rights organization; and Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a nationwide consortium of public policy researchers. The trip, described by participants as a “humanitarian mission,” comes as President Bush is…


  • Sept. 11 Events Calling for “No More Victims”

    Many communities throughout the United States and the world are planning events to honor the people who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. The following organizers, seeking to help create a world with “no more victims,” are available for interviews: DAVID POTORTI David Potorti, who lost his brother James at the World Trade Center, said today: “Victims of terrorism and war — from Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Philippines and Japan — will join family members of Sept. 11 victims for a joint speaking tour in the days immediately before and after Sept. 11, 2002. The…


  • Powell in Africa: Interviews Available

    BILL FLETCHER Executive director of TransAfrica, Fletcher said today: “Bush not being at the Earth Summit in South Africa is extremely symbolic. It is a reflection of the arrogance of this administration and its unilateralism. The Summit is perhaps most noteworthy for the events of the popular organizations and NGOs which are trying to address the growing disparity of wealth and the failure of the global North to deal with environmental degradation. I hope that Powell is hearing this, though it would have been better for Bush to hear it himself. Powell is also scheduled to go to Angola. I…


  • Interviews Available: “EarthSummit.biz”?

    There will be major protests and a march on Saturday at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The following activists are available for comment: ANTONIA JUHASZ Juhasz is a project director for the International Forum on Globalization, which represents over 60 organizations in 25 countries. She said today: “The absence of President Bush should not be mistaken for a lack of U.S. commitment to the outcome of the summit. On the contrary, the administration has set an aggressive agenda for the summit which it has been pursuing — halting any progress on the commitments made by the president’s father…


  • Interviews Available on Global Corporate Crime: Earth Summit, Bhopal

    As the Earth Summit — or World Summit on Sustainable Development — continues to meet in Johannesburg, South Africa, many nongovernmental organizations are calling for increased corporate accountability and protesting against corporate control of the Summit itself. Yesterday, a court in Bhopal, India, rejected the Indian government’s application for a reduction of criminal charges against former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson. The court has instead directed the prosecuting agency to hasten the extradition of Anderson from the United States. Anderson, who is accused of “culpable homicide” for deaths from the poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal…


  • War Against Iraq — Who Should Decide?

    The lead headline in this morning’s Washington Post is: “Bush Aides Say Iraq War Needs No Hill Vote.” In contrast, Wayne Morse — one of only two Senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution used by the Johnson administration to escalate the Vietnam War — argued that declaring war is the responsibility of Congress. Audio of his 1964 statements is available: Morse: “No war has been declared in Southeast Asia and until a war is declared it is my position that it is unconstitutional to send American boys to their death in South Vietnam or anywhere else in…


  • Earth Summit: Another Global Snub by the U.S.?

    The Earth Summit — or World Summit on Sustainable Development [see www.johannesburgsummit.org ] — begins on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa. The following analysts are available for comments: COLLEEN FREEMAN A policy analyst with Friends of the Earth, Freeman said today: “Clearly, the promises of the Rio Earth Summit of 10 years ago have not materialized. Friends of the Earth’s view is that one of the principal causes — if not the principal cause — has been the failure of many corporations to act in a socially and environmentally sound manner and be held accountable. Institutions such as the World…


  • Are Trump and Netanyahu Trying to Fuel an Arab-Iranian War?

    “Israel and the U.S. are desperate to draw Arab countries into a direct confrontation with Iran to deplete those same countries and get Muslims to destroy each other (especially Gulf countries that have been competing with the West in attracting capital, talent and investments). This way Israel would emerge on top as the region’s uncontested…

  • The War with Iran is Already Costing Billions

    In a new fact sheet, the Institute for Policy Studies explains that the war with Iran is already costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. “Daily operations in and around Iran for these major military systems are costing… an estimated $59.3 million per day. That [money] could instead cover the daily costs of Medicaid for more…

  • Israel Expands War, Executes Mass Expulsion in Lebanon

    “Nearly 60,000 people have been displaced over the previous 24 hours alone, according to Lebanon’s state-run media outlet, the National News Agency, adding to the tens of thousands who have already fled their homes since Monday.”

  • Will the International Community Stand up to Aggression?

    “The UN Security Council is paralyzed because the United States will veto any resolution condemning its own actions. …. The Hague Group [which has announced an emergency meeting], or any member state, should introduce a UN General Assembly resolution declaring the U.S.-Israel assault on Iran a violation of the UN Charter and a war of…

  • The U.S. and Israel Have Killed in How Many Countries in the Last Year?

    The United States has bombed seven countries in the past 12 months: Venezuela, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and Iran. Asad Abukhalil notes: “Israel bombed eight countries: Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt ‘by mistake’ and Iran.” Drop Site News reports: “Black smoke was seen rising from inside the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City following…

  • “U.S.-Israel Axis is the Greatest Threat Facing Humanity Today”

    “A murderous bombing campaign in Iran, continuing genocide in Palestine, serial aggression abroad, belligerent occupation of several countries, acts of transnational terrorism, repression at home, schemes to profit from murder and colonization, systematic coverup of the Mossad-Epstein operations, massive corruption of the public and private sectors across the West, sanctions against human rights defenders and…

  • “Board of Peace” Threat and Uniting for Peace Opportunity

    The Friends of the Hague Group has released a sign-on letter which urges members of The Hague Group “to rectify their previous failure to support co-chair Colombian President Petro’s commitment to introduce a Uniting for Peace resolution at the UNGA to ensure protection for Palestinians. Multinational protection through the United Nations is the primary demand…

  • Israel Maintained Security and Surveillance Equipment at Epstein Residence

    “The Israeli government installed security equipment and controlled access to a Manhattan apartment building managed by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a set of emails recently released by the Department of Justice. The equipment was installed starting in early 2016 at 301 E. 66th Street — the residence where former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak…

  • Rev. Jesse Jackson Did Not Have Establishment Media on His Side

    Robert Borosage writes in an obituary of the Reverend Jesse Jackson that in both 1984 and 1988, Jackson faced a “skeptical, often hostile press, with little money for paid advertising, [and] Jackson relied on generating free media and drawing big crowds.” Yet Borosage argues that Jackson’s “brilliance and his greatest legacy [are] that the mission,…

  • Palestine Action Ban Ruled Unlawful

    He writes of the group which openly targeted facilities in Britain making weapons for Israel: “A panel of judges found on Friday that the ban resulted in ‘very significant interference with the right to freedom of speech and the right to freedom of assembly.’

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