News Releases

  • Perspectives on China and Spying

    MIKE MOORE Editor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Moore said: “What the Chinese are doing is developing a survivable second-strike force — that is the ability to respond if they are attacked. To do this, they need to miniaturize their nuclear warheads to fit them on mobile missiles. To do that, you need to do a lot of nuclear testing, which the U.S. and others have done, but the Chinese have not. So, instead, they may have stolen some of the data.” More Information LISBETH GRONLUND Senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists and research fellow…


  • War Powers Violation Today?

    WASHINGTON — From all indications, today will mark the first time since enactment of the 1973 War Powers Resolution that a President has openly violated the termination requirements of that law. Air strikes against Yugoslavia began on March 24. The House of Representatives refused to give approval for the air war in a stunning tie vote of 213 to 213 on April 28. Today (May 25) marks 60 days since President Clinton gave Congress official notice. Under the War Powers Resolution law, if the President does not have explicit authorization, he has 60 days to “terminate any use” of forces.…


  • Food Safety: New Arguments About U.S. Health and Foreign Trade

    As tensions mount between Europe and the United States on trade disputes over food and other issues, some researchers contend that Europeans are raising issues vital to American consumers. Among the analysts available for comment are: MARK RITCHIE President of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Ritchie said: “The United States is known for dumping risky foods in other countries. When certain chemicals were banned in the U.S., for example, we shipped soda pop containing those chemicals to Vietnam… The reason the U.S. is being so aggressive on hormone beef is that, when asked, American consumers overwhelmingly also reject…


  • What is a Cluster Bomb?

    WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has acknowledged using cluster bombs in the air war against Yugoslavia. Some researchers are condemning the use of this weapon. Among those available for interviews are: KEVIN KAVANAUGH A research scientist specializing in defense affairs at the Federation of American Scientists, Kavanaugh said: “Cluster bomb units — CBU-87/B, combined effects munitions, are 1,000-pound deadly munitions that break into 202 bomblets, and each bomblet fractures into 300 fragments of steel. It covers a football field, it can turn an apple orchard into apple sauce — or people into hamburger. It’s used against ‘soft targets,’ meaning troops and…


  • China and the Bombing Campaign

    ROBERT WEIL Author of Red Cat, White Cat: China and the Contradictions of ‘Market Socialism’, Weil said: “The anger in China is widespread and is no doubt very genuine. Either it will stiffen the Chinese government reaction to the U.S., which would have its own serious consequences; or they won’t stand up to the U.S., which might result in a domestic backlash. There’s widespread feeling in China that the U.S. is bullying them, practicing gunboat diplomacy and this may be a final straw. There’s already a lot of political discontent about the economic situation — the increased class polarization, unemployment,…


  • Perspectives on Juvenile Crime

    While the White House Conference on Children, Violence and Responsibility has been in the spotlight, some researchers are questioning the focus of the event. Among those available for interviews are: VINCENT SCHIRALDI The director of the Justice Policy Institute, Schiraldi warned against Senate legislation to be submitted Tuesday that gives colleges access to juvenile records and allows for the jailing of kids in adult facilities. Schiraldi said: “In the wake of the tragedy in Littleton, more now than ever, the U.S. Senate needs to craft thoughtful legislation based on good data, not hyperbole. Many in the criminology community have deep…


  • Some Religious Perspectives on the War in Yugoslavia

    REV. DR. JOAN B. CAMPBELL General secretary of the National Council of Churches, Campbell was co-leader with the Rev. Jesse Jackson of the recent U.S. religious leaders’ mission to Belgrade, which culminated in their winning the release of the three captured American soldiers. “The National Council of Churches is a faith-based community that reaches out across boundaries of state and creed — even when our nations are at war,” she says. “That is why I went to Belgrade along with my fellow Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders from the United States. In our time there with our Yugoslav counterparts,…


  • Russia and Negotiations

    The following analysts are available for comment on Russia and possibilities for negotiations: DAVID KOTZ Co-author of Revolution From Above: The Demise of the Soviet System and professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Kotz said: “The U.S. is trying to use Russia as a club to pressure Milosevic to submit to U.S. demands, rather than taking Russia up on its offer to serve as a genuine mediator to reach a compromise. Russia’s indebtedness to the IMF makes it appear that they can be pressured into acting as an agent for NATO. This is a very risky game to…


  • Last Night’s House Vote Makes It Official: The Bombing of Yugoslavia is Illegal

    JULES LOBEL Professor of Constitutional and International Law at the University of Pittsburgh MICHAEL RATNER Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights Lobel and Ratner have litigated numerous cases challenging illegal wars including Dellums v. Bush, the case that forced President Bush to obtain congressional authority for the Gulf War in 1991. In a joint statement released today, they said: “In a remarkable vote against the war in Yugoslavia, the House of Representatives, by a vote of 213 to 213, failed to give the President the constitutionally required authorization he needed to carry on the air war against Yugoslavia. The Constitution grants…


  • New Attention to Unpublicized Provisions of Rambouillet

    WASHINGTON — New questions are continuing to emerge about the actual terms of the Rambouillet text. Milosevic’s refusal to sign Rambouillet was the cited reason that NATO began the bombing of Yugoslavia. Today, the Washington Post published an exchange between NATO spokesman Jamie Shea and a representative of the Institute for Public Accuracy: [The Washington Post, “For the Record,” Wednesday, April 28, 1999:] From a NATO press conference at the National Press Club Monday with spokesman Jamie Shea: Q: The Rambouillet Accords, appendix B in particular…called for the occupation of all of Yugoslavia…. Unrestricted passage throughout [its] air space, territorial…


  • Israel’s Famine, Ethnic Cleansing and Settlement Plans Proceeding

    Haaretz reports in “Road to Redemption: How Israel’s War Against Hamas Turned Into a Springboard for Jewish Settlement in Gaza” that: The army’s activities in the occupied areas are diverse: expanding military bases, building infrastructure and even paving roads, all while under persistent Hamas fire. Based on satellite imagery analysis and other open sources, Haaretz…

  • What Does the Chevron Doctrine’s Overruling Mean for Disabled People?

    The future of public agencies is uncertain after the Supreme Court handed down the decision to overrule the Chevron doctrine. Experts say that disabled Americans will be disproportionately impacted by the decision. 

  • U.S. and NATO Give Canada “Marching Orders”

    She said today: “NATO has militarized Canadian foreign policy. Canada no longer does peacekeeping. Canada is at its lowest level in 30 years for peacekeeping with only 49 Canadian soldiers on United Nations peace support operations. Instead, Canada has over 1,000 soldiers leading a NATO battle group in Latvia. Over the 25 years, Canada has…

  • German Parliamentarian: “Global NATO: Expansion and Escalation”

    Dagdelen is a member of the German parliament, the Bundestag, and is on the foreign affairs committee. She speaks tonight at Busboys and Poets in D.C. She is the author of a book on NATO. She spoke at a rally outside the White House on Monday. She said: “At its Washington summit, NATO intends to…

  • NATO, Israel and Militarization

    Salim is a Palestinian graduate student at George Washington University with family in Gaza. He has lost over 100 members of his extended family. He was a speaker at the recent No to NATO, Yes to Peace summit. He said today: “Israel is one of several partners of NATO. It can be seen as the…

  • * French Election * Hannibal * Lancet: Estimated 186,000 Dead in Gaza

    An article in the Lancet, “Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential,” states: “Armed conflicts have indirect health implications beyond the direct harm from violence. Even if the conflict ends immediately, there will continue to be many indirect deaths in the coming months and years from causes such as reproductive, communicable, and non-communicable diseases.…

  • “No to NATO, Yes to Peace”

    In the piece “Confronting NATO’s War Summit in Washington,” Medea Benjamin writes: “The details of NATO’s agenda for the Washington summit were revealed at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Prague at the end of May. NATO will drag its members into the U.S. Cold War with China by accusing it of supplying dual-use weapons…

  • NATO “Increased Rather than Decreased Instability”

    “It is evident that neither Joseph Biden nor Donald Trump have any solution to the terrible war in Ukraine, now in its third year.”

  • Is the President Above the Law?

    On Monday, following the Supreme Court decision Trump v. United States, President Biden said from the White House: “No one is above the law, not even the president of the United States.”

  • The Supreme Court and Working People

    A new report from the People’s Parity Project contends that U.S. federal courts pose an “urgent threat to economic justice and worker power.” 

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