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News Releases

  • * Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia * Peace Activist Kelly To Be Imprisoned

    NORMA CASTILLO ALEXIS CASTILLO Norma Castillo and Alexis Castillo are aunt and uncle to Camilo Mejia. Tonight on CBS, 60 Minutes II will be airing a segment on Mejia, the Florida National Guard staff sergeant who did not return to Iraq from leave and turned himself in recently. Mejia has filed for conscientious objector (C.O.) status and has spoken out against the war in Iraq, saying: “I could not continue to do the things I was doing in Iraq…. I’m completely against it because it’s an oil-motivated war.” [For more on Mejia’s case, see: http://citizen-soldier.org/CS07-Camilo.html, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/29/60II/main609216.shtml.] More Information LUKE HIKEN…

  • * Condoleezza Rice and Reality * Oil Prices * Oil-for-Food Scandal?

    LAURA FLANDERS Flanders is author of the just-released book Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species, which includes profiles of Condoleezza Rice, Karen Hughes, Laura Bush and others. Flanders said today: “Much of the reporting on Rice has tended to play up the personal — her childhood in segregated Alabama — and play down the political. But Rice, who served for 10 years on the board of the Chevron Corporation, deserves at least as much scrutiny as the other members of Bush’s oiligopoly. In the first Bush administration, she defended the CIA when it stood accused of misleading Congress into arming…

  • In Afghanistan: Fighting Terrorism? Building Democracy?

    The U.S. has recently increased military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Colin Powell is leaving for a conference in Berlin about Afghanistan on Tuesday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai this weekend proclaimed that elections would be delayed. The following are available for interviews: BEAU GROSSCUP Grosscup is author of the book The Newest Explosions of Terrorism and professor of international relations at California State University in Chico. He said today: “The so-called ‘Spring Offensive’ in Pakistan seems to be mostly symbolic… Especially in the light of insider accounts from Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke that the administration was fixated on Iraq…

  • * Bush’s Housing Policies * Budget * Kerry’s Corporate Tax Cut

    ANN NORTON President Bush is speaking about housing today in New Mexico. Norton is president of the Housing Preservation Project. She said today: “Affordable housing is very much an issue here in New Mexico. Bush is touting this ‘American Dream Down Payment Act.’ But at the same time, he is proposing a budget that is cutting housing assistance. The administration is pushing for significant cuts in the Section 8 voucher program which provides for subsidies for low-income rents in private housing.” More Information SHEILA CROWLEY, [via Kim Schaffer] President of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Crowley said today: “While…

  • Sources of Bombing of Yugoslavia

    TERESA CRAWFORD Teresa Crawford was arrested and expelled by Serbian authorities last March while engaging in conflict-resolution efforts in Kosovo. She is a university fellow in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. “That the international community has resorted to bombing as the only way to deal with Milosevic and his regime jeopardizes the future of the region,” she said. “Bombing or no bombing, all the people of Kosovo whose communities are being destroyed will have to live together.” More Information JULIANNE SMITH Senior analyst at the European Security desk at BASIC (British American Security Information…

  • * The Future of Medicare * Exxon Valdez Anniversary

    ALAN SAGER DEBORAH SOCOLAR Sager and Socolar are directors of the Health Reform Program at Boston University’s School of Public Health. They released a report in October 2003 entitled “New Medicare Rx Benefit Means Big Profits for Drug Makers.” Sager said today: “In 2003, actuaries predicted that the Medicare Trust Fund would be depleted in 2026 — 23 years ahead. Yesterday, the actuaries predicted depletion in 2019 — seven years sooner. The evidence from past years is clear that managed care privatization has cost Medicare money. So no one should be surprised that the Medicare actuaries have cited the new…

  • 9-11 Commission

    DAVID MacMICHAEL A former analyst for the CIA, MacMichael said today: “Richard Clarke is not the first to make the point, though he does it from the inside, that the administration had priorities that superseded protecting the American people. According to Gary Hart, the Hart-Rudman report lay unopened until August 2001 on Condoleezza Rice’s desk; on Sept. 10, 2001, Ashcroft was trying to cut counterterrorism budget items….” ANDREW RICE Andrew Rice’s brother was killed at the World Trade Center on 9-11. He said today: “Among many of the family members who have followed the 9-11 Commission closely, there is great…

  • Israel’s Assassination: Larger Context

    STEVE NIVA Niva wrote “Israel’s Assassination Policy: The Trigger for the Latest Suicide Bombings?” and other articles on Israeli violence and Palestinian suicide bombings. Niva, who is writing a book on the subject, is professor of international politics at Evergreen State College in Washington. More Information More Information MUSTAFA BARGHOUTHI, M.D. President of the Palestinian National Initiative, a democratic opposition movement, Barghouthi said today: “There has been a shift in the intifada [the Palestinian uprising] toward more nonviolent struggle, with peaceful protests by Palestinians, Israelis and others against Sharon’s apartheid wall. This assassination is trying to push things in the…

  • * Global Public Opinion * Role of U.N. * Blix’s Fibs

    ED BICE Executive director of the People’s Opinion Project, Bice said today: “International public opinion polling shows continued strong opposition to U.S. foreign policy among the people of the world… The Pew Center poll released yesterday found majorities in all foreign countries surveyed, except Britain, had unfavorable views of the U.S. and ‘believe that controlling Mideast oil supplies is an important reason why the U.S. is conducting the war on terrorism.’ In all foreign countries, majorities had an unfavorable opinion of President Bush and ‘believe that America pays little or no attention to their country’s interests in making its foreign…

  • One Year Later: The Invasion of Iraq

    SUE NIEDERER Niederer’s son Army 2nd Lt. Seth Dvorin was killed on Feb. 4 by a roadside bomb in Iraq. More Information DENIS HALLIDAY Halliday is former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq and a former U.N. Assistant Secretary General. WRIGHT SALISBURY Salisbury lost his son-in-law Ted Hennessey on Flight 11 on September 11. He went on to found the Center for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Understanding and is a member of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. He recently told Salon “I was a Republican up until I voted for Bush….” More Information More Information More Information KATHY KELLY Kelly…

  • Iraq Analysts Available

    JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of Law, Ohio State University. Specialist in the Mideast and in international law. “There is no basis in any Security Council resolution for unilateral military action by the U.S.” BARBARA LUBIN Executive director, Middle East Children’s Alliance More Information JEFF GUNTZEL Traveled recently to Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness, delivering medicine…

  • Iraq Sanctions: What’s the Policy?

    Whether the United States bombs Iraq or not, there are reports that the U.S. is changing its policy to a more sanctions-based approach. While many are claiming that Iraq would be rid of the sanctions if it complied with the weapons inspections, an examination of U.S. policymakers’ statements since the Gulf War suggests otherwise: April…

  • Environmentalists Urge Clinton to Live Up to Rhetoric

    With the Earth’s climate on the table as delegates from more than 160 nations gather in Buenos Aires for a global climate summit, some U.S. specialists are voicing concern that the White House is not honoring its promises. Among those available for comment: ROSS GELBSPAN Gelbspan, author of The Heat Is On: The Climate Crisis,…

  • Victories for Campaign Finance Reform in Two States Likely to Inspire Grassroots Efforts Nationwide

    Statewide ballot measures for campaign finance reform won approval Tuesday in Arizona and Massachusetts. Activists say those victories will inspire a groundswell of efforts around the country to clean up the elections process at the grassroots. “This sends a message nationwide,” said Kaia Lenhart, political director of Arizonans for Clean Elections. “There’s no doubt about…

  • Election Issues That Weren’t

    As the 1998 campaign nears its end, some observers contend that key realities of American society have remained out of focus. Several policy analysts are available for interviews on subjects they say have gone largely overlooked during this campaign season: JOHN C. BERG Director of Graduate Studies at the Government Department of Suffolk University, Berg…

  • Social Security: Economists Call for Realism

    Three economists issued statements Friday warning against unrealistic scenarios for privatizing Social Security. The researchers took aim at a new book put out this week by the Cato Institute (Common Cents, Common Dreams) which argues for privatization. They are available for interviews on Social Security policy options. RICHARD Du BOFF Professor of Economics at Bryn…

  • Pinochet Arrest Raises New Questions in Washington

    WASHINGTON — The arrest of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet has focused new attention on the record of his regime, which remained in power for 17 years after the 1973 coup that toppled Chile’s democratically elected government. Some pointed questions are being raised about the Washington-based Cato Institute’s current embrace of Jose Pinera, who…

  • Analysts Decry Inaction by Congress on HMO Reform

    WASHINGTON — The failure of Congress to pass legislation on health care reform before adjournment has angered many Americans. A number of doctors and health care analysts are available for interviews about Congressional inaction on a patient bill of rights to address problems with HMOs. Some of these specialists regard such a bill of rights…

  • Social Security: Would Privatization Help Minorities?

    WASHINGTON — A range of organizations today criticized rosy claims about Social Security privatization for Latinos and African Americans. At a presentation in Washington organized by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the widely cited Heritage Foundation was faulted for “technical errors” and “gross inaccuracies” in its claims that racial minorities would fare better…

  • “Surplus” and Poverty in America

    WASHINGTON — While President Clinton announces budget surplus figures today, some economists and poverty specialists are challenging the idea that poverty is receding as a national problem. Among those available for comment are: ANURADHA MITTAL Policy Director at the Institute for Food and Development Policy – Food First, Mittal said: “Extreme poverty is growing fastest…

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