News Releases

  • Analysts Available on New UN Iraq Resolution

    As the Bush administration pushes for a UN Security Council resolution vote on Iraq, the following analysts are available for interviews: DENIS HALLIDAY Halliday is a former UN Assistant Secretary General and headed the UN’s food-for-oil program in Iraq. Available for limited interviews, Halliday said today: “Even if the Iraqis wanted to comply — and it’s not clear to me that they do — I doubt that they could comply with this resolution. It has components that are simply geared toward Mr. Bush’s war. If the Iraqis close the door on an inspector in a bike shop at 3 in…


  • Interviews on Iraq: UN Endgame

    “All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” — UN Charter (Chapter I, Article 2) [See: www.un.org/aboutun/charter] JAMES PAUL Executive director of the Global Policy Forum, which monitors global policy-making at the United Nations, Paul said today: “We understand that a deal is being struck —…


  • Interviews Available: Congressional Elections

    GREG PALAST Author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Palast is featured in the investigative documentary “Counting on Democracy,” which is currently being shown on PBS stations. He said today: “In 2000, Katherine Harris, Florida Secretary of State, ordered county elections officials to purge 57,000 citizens from voter registries as felons not allowed to vote in Florida. In fact, about 95 percent of these voters were innocent of crimes — but 54 percent were guilty of being African-American. Harris and the state admit that tens of thousands of black voters had been wronged, and with plantation noblesse have agreed…


  • Brazil — Beyond the Election

    STEVE COBBLE Senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Cobble was recently in Brazil. He said Monday afternoon: “On his fourth run for president, Lula da Silva, the former leader of the San Bernardo Metal Workers Union, has won a huge victory. Brazil is the eighth-largest economy in the world and it’s clear that the overwhelming majority of Brazilians have voted against the expansion of corporate domination over their lives. Lula’s victory also means that the Free Trade Agreement for the Americas now faces major new obstacles. The opponents of unfettered corporate trade, both in Latin America and inside…


  • Decoding New U.S. Draft of UN Resolution on Iraq: Detailed Analysis at Accuracy.org/un

    As the UN Security Council considers the new resolution on Iraq put forward by the Bush administration, the Institute for Public Accuracy has made available a detailed analysis of the proposed resolution. The assessments feature a number of legal and political analysts. The multifaceted critique is available at: www.accuracy.org/un Among the points made by analysts who are available for interviews: PHYLLIS BENNIS, Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bennis is author of the new book Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis. She said today: “The resolution seems to be an effort to ensure Iraq’s…


  • Sniper: Perspectives on Violence Around the Beltway

    M. J. PARK Park, an educator and director of Little Friends for Peace, runs a “Peace Room” based in Washington, D.C. She said today: “I’ve been working daily with my students at our Peace Room. There’s a circle of fear that’s increasing the awareness of bad people out there. The children are being deprived of their normal routine. It’s more fear than anger, though they are beginning to be angry as they realize what this will mean for Halloween…. Our society acts as though it is horrified by the sniper, but there’s a sniper video game that has as the…


  • The Planned War on Iraq: A Big Boost to Al-Qaeda? Hypocrisy on Israel and Indonesia?

    ANAS SHALLAL A “Partner for Peace” with the Seeds of Peace program, Shallal is a founder of the Mesopotamia Cultural Society and an Iraqi-American small business owner in Washington, D.C. TAMIM ANSARY Ansary is an Afghan-American and the author of West of Kabul, East of New York. He said today: “Reducing functioning societies to anarchy by destroying their infrastructure and killing great numbers of their citizens is likely to increase whatever legacy of grudge and grievance is already in place. It is also likely to increase the number of dislocated individuals living in furious impotence and stewing in secrecy.” More…


  • Columbus Day — Then and Now

    VERNON BELLECOURT, Director for International Affairs of the American Indian Movement, Bellecourt said: “You can trace the history of American militarism. It started with waging war, including smallpox on the Eastern Seaboard. Beginning then on one side you have talk about God-fearing, Jesus-loving people; on the other side committing genocide and war. Look at the history of degrading and demonizing people: ‘Injuns,’ ‘Redskins,’ ‘Niggers,’ ‘Kikes,’ ‘Japs,’ ‘Krauts,’ ‘Terrorists,’ ‘Towelheads.’ You now have comedians on late night shows telling jokes about Arabs and Muslims. You demean and trivialize a people — whoever it is at the time you portray as being…


  • Bush’s War Case: Fiction vs. Facts at Accuracy.org/bush

    As Congress debates war with Iraq, the Institute for Public Accuracy has made available a detailed analysis of President Bush’s Cincinnati address. The assessments feature a dozen Middle East, legal, weapons and policy analysts with multifaceted critiques of Bush’s claims. Issues covered range from biological weapons to U.N. Security Council resolutions to Congress’s constitutional role. The analysis is available at: www.accuracy.org/bush Here are some of the points made: CHRIS TOENSING The editor of Middle East Report, responding to allegations that Iraq is threatening the region, Toensing said: “There is no evidence whatsoever that Iraq is doing so, or has any…


  • Detailed Analysis of Bush Speech on Iraq

    An in-depth factual critique of Bush’s speech last night is posted at www.accuracy.org/bush — with the following analysts available for interviews: CHRIS TOENSING Toensing is editor of Middle East Report. More Information SUSAN WRIGHT Co-author of the book Preventing a Biological Arms Race and the forthcoming Biological Warfare and Disarmament: New Problems/New Perspectives, Wright is a research scientist at the University of Michigan. More Information JACQUELINE CABASSO Executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation, Cabasso is co-author of the report “The Shape of Things to Come: The Nuclear Posture Review, Missile Defense, and the Dangers of a New Arms…


  • * Jobless Recovery? * Forecast * Vacation Starvation?

    ROBERT POLLIN Professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and author of the forthcoming book Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity, Pollin said today: “Recently there has been much talk, and some signs, of a recovery out of the long stagnation that has gripped the U.S.…

  • Nuclear Precipice: Korea and Iran

    BILL MESLER A former editor of the Seoul-based Korea Economic Journal, Mesler said today: “The upcoming talks in Beijing are a positive sign. Unfortunately the Bush administration has continued to make unacceptable demands without offering any concrete concessions, which continues to hamper the possibility of reaching a fruitful accord. The Bush administration says it wants…

  • Weapons of Mass Deception?

    SHELDON RAMPTON, JOHN STAUBER Rampton and Stauber are the authors of the just-released Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq. They said today: “In our book we report that the Bush administration’s phony claims about Iraq go well beyond those mere 16 words in the State of the Union…

  • * Israel’s Wall * Sharon’s Policies * Liberia * WTO in Montreal

    MARK LANCE Lance, a professor at Georgetown University, was in the West Bank in June and July with a delegation of university faculty and has written about the wall that Israel is constructing in the West Bank. He said today: “Sharon claims that Israel is building a ‘security fence’ so that it can protect itself.…

  • * Hussein’s Sons * 9/11 Report * Abbas and Bush

    ANAS SHALLAL The Pentagon has just released pictures of dead Uday and Qusay Hussein. Shallal is founder of Iraqi-Americans for Peaceful Alternatives. He said today: “This is reminiscent to me of previous coups in Iraq. As a child, I remember seeing the killing of Abdul Karim Kassem on TV in 1963. Now, we have the…

  • The Economy: The Other Credibility Gap

    ROBERT McINTYRE McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, said today: “Recently a lot of issues have come to light regarding presidential credibility about the war on Iraq. The administration also has serious credibility problems when it comes to economics. For example, the president has given numerous speeches implying that most people stand to gain…

  • Iraq Occupation: Huge Problems

    EMAN AHMED KHAMMAS Khammas is co-director of the newly founded Occupation Watch Center in Iraq. She said today: “We are all happy that Saddam Hussein is gone, but we continue to pay a very high price with our lives, our health and our country. The security situation here is hell, I don’t know how else…

  • Mr. Blair Goes to Washington

    MEL GOODMAN Goodman, a former CIA analyst, is a professor of international security at the National War College in Washington and a senior fellow for intelligence reform at the Center for International Policy. He said today: “The administration is now asserting that statements about Iraq’s alleged attempts to obtain unenriched uranium from Africa may well…

  • Iraq Interviews Available: “Had I known…”

    On July 11, 2003, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told the press aboard Air Force One: “Had I known that there was a forged document here, would I put this in the State of the Union? No.” RAHUL MAHAJAN Mahajan, author of the new book Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond, has…

  • WMD: The Dog Ate My Homework

    GREG THIELMANN Thielmann served as director of the Office of Strategic, Proliferation, and Military Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research until September 2002. He said today: “I believe the Bush administration did not provide an accurate picture to the American people of the military threat posed by Iraq…. Going down the…

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