MICHAEL SIMMONS Director of European Programs for the American Friends Service Committee, Simmons said: “The conflict in Kosovo should have been anticipated and need not have happened…. On the one hand, in Iraq, the U.S. is calling for [internal] opposition to Saddam Hussein. But in Yugoslavia, there has been all kinds of opposition, but the U.S. has treated them with contempt.” MATT ROTHSCHILD Editor of The Progressive magazine, Rothschild said: “What gives the United States and NATO the right to conduct this warfare? If the United States is going to engage in so-called humanitarian interventions, it is incumbent upon it…

DAVID HARTSOUGH Executive director of the Peaceworkers organization, Hartsough has gone to Kosovo several times in support of nonviolent resistance and conflict-resolution efforts. Last March, he was detained by Serbian authorities, who jailed him and later expelled him from the country. “Diplomatic efforts should have been underway more than a year ago, before the place exploded,” Hartsough says. “At that time, the very significant and powerful nonviolent movement in Kosovo was calling for international intervention to try to stop the oppression bearing down on the Albanian people. Finally, in February of this year, after a couple of thousand people had…

In the aftermath of the congressional vote to deploy a missile defense system — just days before the Russian prime minister is set to arrive in the United States — some analysts are questioning the feasibility, prudence and legality of such a system. Among those available for comment are: WILLIAM HARTUNG Senior research fellow at the World Policy Institute and author of “And Weapons for All,” Hartung said: “Missile defense is unworkable, unaffordable and unnecessary. It also runs the risk of sparking a new nuclear arms race. Instead of changing our policies to reflect the end of the Cold War…

The Heritage Foundation is one of our country’s most influential and oft-quoted think tanks. But its claims often seem to be based more on ideology than solid research. U.S. POOR NOT REALLY POOR: Heritage Foundation poverty analyst Robert Rector has issued widely trumpeted reports arguing that the poor aren’t so poor — for instance, “The Myth of Widespread American Poverty” (1998). The reports contain false and misleading claims. Purporting to show that poor Americans rarely go hungry, Heritage relies on an outmoded 1991 Health and Human Services nutrition survey that understates the problem, while ignoring the more recent and complete…

KATE DOYLE Director of the Guatemala Project at the National Security Archive, which worked with the Commission for Historical Clarification, Doyle said: “Though not all the relevant material was turned over to the `truth commission,’ the U.S. took the Commission’s requests seriously and produced some critical documents. I hope this is a harbinger for support of future human rights investigations in the hemisphere. Now that the Guatemalan commission has finished its work, the U.S. should establish its own truth commission to expose, investigate and analyze our sometimes scandalous role in Latin America during the Cold War.” JENNIFER HARBURY Director of…

While states across the country reach deadlines to end welfare for large numbers of people, some policy analysts contend that both the White House and the Republican congressional leadership are dodging substantial evidence that many Americans who have been dropped from the welfare rolls are worse off as a result. Among the researchers available for comment are: LINDA GORDON “The problem of welfare cannot be separated from the problems of the working poor,” said Gordon, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin and author of “Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare.” She added: “Numerous…

President Clinton went to Capitol Hill today to talk about his administration’s legislative agenda. Interviews are available with these analysts: NANCY SNOW Snow, assistant professor of political science at New England College, is executive director of Common Cause in New Hampshire. “The other Y2K problem is the money chase in the presidential campaigns of 2000,” she said. “President Clinton should pay more than lip service to the need for campaign finance reform. Clinton wants to be seen on the side of the good guys who favor reform — but he, like so many other politicians, has shown no conviction on…

Despite new figures showing rapid growth in the U.S. economy, some economists said Friday afternoon that many Americans are not getting much benefit from the nation’s overall prosperity. While the Commerce Department has just reported that the economy grew at an annual rate of 6.1 percent during the final quarter of 1998, independent economists cautioned that — despite a hefty boost in the U.S. gross domestic product — huge gaps exist in Americans’ economic well-being. The following economists are available for interviews: ROBERT POLLIN Pollin, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said Friday: “The demand…

DAVID HARTSOUGH Director of the Peaceworkers organization from 1993 through 1998, Hartsough made several extended visits to Kosovo in recent years in support of nonviolent resistance and conflict-resolution efforts. Last March, he was detained by Serbian authorities, who jailed him and later expelled him from the country. “For more than eight years, the Kosovo Albanian majority struggled for their rights against Serbian repression in one of the largest efforts of sustained nonviolent action since Gandhi,” Hartsough said Tuesday. “This was the time for creative efforts at preventive diplomacy. Yet the United States and the rest of the world paid little…

DIANA ZUCKERMAN Director of the Social Security Project of the National Association of Commissions for Women, Zuckerman said: “Privatization would be a double whammy for women: Privatized personal accounts primarily benefit the highest earners, who tend to be men, and many of the proposed benefit cuts would harm our lowest earners, most of whom are women. Most women earn $25,000 a year or less. No matter how good their investments, they are not going to do better under privatization than they would under the current system. For starters, personal accounts have high administrative costs that may cost more than the…