Some family members of the victims killed in the September 11 attacks are speaking out in opposition to the administration’s apparent military plans. Judy Keane, who lost her husband Richard, said: “Bombing Afghanistan is just going to create more widows, more homeless, fatherless children.” [CNN, 9/25] Jill Gartenberg, whose husband Jim was killed, said that “we don’t win by killing other people.” [Fox, 9/24] Amber Amundson lost her husband, Craig, in the Pentagon. She wrote in the Chicago Tribune [9/25] “If you choose to respond to this incomprehensible brutality by perpetuating violence against other innocent human beings, you may not…

On Monday, President Bush said: “We’re acting based on clear evidence, much of which is classified, so it will not be disclosed.” Today, Attorney General Ashcroft testified in favor of granting the government new powers. The following legal analysts are available for interviews: JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley said today: “It is general international practice that you provide some proof before you demand the surrender of someone wanted on criminal charges. So it’s not unreasonable of the Taliban to want to see the evidence. Even if the Taliban are aware of camps, that does…

ROBERT POLLIN Professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Pollin wrote “Economic Slide Makes Spending Respectable” in today’s Los Angeles Times. He said today: “U.S. economic policymakers have failed for almost a year to respond adequately to the looming global recession. As the stock market plunge makes clear, the calamitous events of September 11 certainly strengthen the recessionary forces, and therefore the likelihood that unemployment, poverty and social despair will spread. But the solution to the recession post September 11 is now also obvious: large-scale injections of government spending, even if the federal surplus evaporates. The perennial…

PHYLLIS BENNIS Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-editor of Beyond the Storm: A Gulf Crisis Reader, Bennis said today: “In Bush’s speech we got no doctrine, no strategy, no evidence. What we did get was a lot of Wild West rhetoric — dead or alive material. In Afghanistan, 25 percent of the people were already dependent solely on foreign-aid food, and all international workers have left because of the U.S. threats. Today, the process of starvation begins. Bush said he would use everything at the U.S.’s disposal, but apparently that doesn’t include Washington’s formidable arsenal of diplomacy…

AS’AD ABUKHALIL Associate professor of political science at California State University at Stanislaus and fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, AbuKhalil is author of the article “Islam and the Study of Central Asia.” He said today: “Learning about Islam is not terribly instructive here, just as Christian theology is not a good framework to explain David Koresh. Non-religious political factors are involved…. There are up to 3 million refugees in Afghanistan and they are basically forced to stay there while they may be bombed. The Afghani people, despite their ethnic divisions,…

ALI ABUNIMAH Vice president of the Arab-American Action Network, Abunimah drove from Chicago to New York City just after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. His writings since then have elicited substantial response. He said today: “While we grieve and come to terms with this outrage, people in the Mideast and in the U.S. need to start genuine dialogue on how they experience and perceive each other.” More Information STEPHEN SHALOM MICHAEL ALBERT Shalom is professor of political science at William Paterson University in New Jersey and author of Imperial Alibis. Albert is editor of Z Magazine. They…

JILL NELSON Author of Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience and a columnist for MSNBC, Nelson said today: “What we can do is demand leadership. Not the leadership of politicians angling for pet projects like missile defense shields or casting about for somewhere to lay the blame and someone to wage war upon. We certainly don’t need the leadership of America’s corporations and Oiltocracy, the defense contractors who stand to profit from military activity or the independent profiteers who are capitalizing on our fears by gouging gas prices. It’s up to the American people to take the high road and…

At the National Cathedral today, President Bush said “this nation is peaceful.” The following analysts are available for interviews. HOWARD ZINN A renowned historian who has authored numerous books including A People’s History of the United States, Zinn was a bombardier during World War II. He said today: “The images on television horrified and sickened me. Then our political leaders came on television, and I was horrified and sickened again. They spoke of retaliation, of vengeance, of punishment. I thought: they have learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from the history of the 20th century, from a hundred years of retaliation, vengeance,…

RABBI ARTHUR WASKOW Director of The Shalom Center and author of Godwrestling — Round 2, Waskow said today: “Even the greatest oceans do not shield us; even the mightiest buildings do not shield us; even the wealthiest balance sheets and the most powerful weapons do not shield us. The lesson is that only a world where we all recognize our vulnerability can become a world where all communities feel responsible to all other communities. And only such a world can prevent such acts of rage and murder. If I treat my neighbor’s pain and grief as foreign, I will end…

FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, Boyle said today: “According to the facts in the public record so far, this was not an act of war and NATO Article 5 does not apply. President Bush has automatically escalated this national tragedy into something it is not in order to justify a massive military attack abroad and an apparent crackdown on civil liberties at home. We see shades of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which the Johnson administration used to provide dubious legal cover for massive escalation of the Vietnam War.” MATT ROTHSCHILD Editor…