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…


  • Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

    With Israeli tanks back in Palestinian population centers and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Washington, the following analysts are available for interviews: MITRI RAHEB Raheb is pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and author of I Am a Palestinian Christian. More Information SIMONA SHARONI Sharoni is professor of peace and conflict…

  • Global Analysts Available

    JEFFREY WINTERS Associate professor of political economy at Northwestern University, author of Power in Motion: Capital Mobility and the Indonesian State and co-author of the forthcoming Reinventing the World Bank, Winters said today: “Hardly anything has been accomplished at past Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meetings and very little economics will be discussed at this…

  • Food to Afghanistan: Analysts Available

    ROGER NORMAND Executive director of the Center for Economic and Social Rights, Normand said today: “Millions in Afghanistan need immediate food aid in order to survive the harsh winter that begins in one month. Today is World Food Day; we call on all parties to allow humanitarian operations to resume.” More Information JIM JENNINGS President…

  • Pakistan and India: Into the Nuclear Fire?

    As Colin Powell visits Pakistan and India, the following analysts are available for interviews: ZIA MIAN Mian is co-editor of the book Out of the Nuclear Shadow and a researcher on South Asian security issues with the Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He…

  • Critical Perspectives on the Current Crisis

    SAM BARRATT Barratt is the spokesperson for Oxfam International in Islamabad. He said today: “So much more needs to be done to prevent mass starvation in Afghanistan this winter. Prior to the crisis, the World Food Program, with the help of Oxfam and other groups, was feeding 3.7 million people. That has stopped. The airdrops…

  • First Amendment in Jeopardy?

    MARK CRISPIN MILLER Professor of media studies at New York University, Miller is author of Boxed In: The Culture of TV and author of the forthcoming Spectacle: Operation Desert Storm and the Triumph of Illusion. He said today: “It’s all too easy to use the need for operational security as an excuse to abridge our…

  • Civil Liberties at Home: “Enduring Freedom”?

    CHRISTOPHER SIMPSON Professor of Communications at American University and author of the books Blowback, Science of Coercion and National Security Directives of the Reagan and Bush Administrations, Simpson said today: “The administration’s scapegoating of the U.S. Congress for supposedly leaking information is a good example of how extreme the administration’ secrecy policies are. The allegedly…

  • As Bombing Proceeds: Now What?

    JIM JENNINGS President of Conscience International, a humanitarian aid organization, Jennings was in Afghani refugee camps in Pakistan this May. He has been involved in humanitarian work for the past 20 years around the world. Jennings said today: “The conditions of the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan earlier this year were the worst I have…

  • Bombing Afghanistan

    JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley said today: “We have to ask, ‘Will this protect the U.S. from further attacks?’…. Military action should have been done through the Security Council at the United Nations. As it is — a U.S. and U.K. military action — it is illegal under international…

  • First Casualties of War

    ROGER NORMAND Executive director of the Center for Economic and Social Rights, which has recently put out several fact sheets on Afghanistan, Normand said today: “Afghanistan was one of the world’s poorest and most devastated countries even before this crisis. The UN has abandoned its relief operations, and all neighboring countries have sealed their borders.…

Mastodon