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News Releases

  • A Bipartisan Lie — Rewriting History

    “This nation is very reluctant to use military force…. Military action is the very last resort for us.” — George W. Bush, October 28, 2003 “[Richard] Gephardt approved a Bush-Cheney policy where, for the first time in American history, we commit to war before exhausting our efforts to commit to peace.” — Howard Dean Campaign Statement, November 16, 2003 Here are just a few of the facts about U.S. foreign policy contradicting such claims: * In 1962, while trying to show that there were precedents for the use of armed force against Cuba, Secretary of State Dean Rusk produced for…

  • Christmas and Chanukah: Interviews Available

    JULIET SCHOR Professor of sociology at Boston College, Schor is author of the books The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need and Do Americans Shop Too Much? She is available for a limited number of interviews until Thursday. STAV ADIVI Adivi is a major in the Israeli Defense Forces. He said today: “I am a Zionist and an Israeli patriot. I am one of 1,200 who are refusing service in the West Bank and Gaza…. Chanukah is a celebration of victory and freedom. About 2,100 years ago, Judah Maccabee led the Jewish fight against the Greeks who…

  • Analysis on the Tenth Anniversary of NAFTA

    New Year’s Day 2004 will mark the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The following critics of NAFTA are available for interviews: ALEJANDRO NADAL FRANCISCO AGUAYO Nadal is the director of the Science and Technology program (PROCIENTEC) at El Colegio de Mexico and co-author of the article “Seven Myths About NAFTA and Three Lessons for Latin America.” He said today: “Between 1994-2003, minimum wages in Mexico lost 20 percent of their purchasing power.” Aguayo, a researcher at PROCIENTEC, said today: “Neither NAFTA nor the Free Trade Area of the Americas provide a means of addressing historical inequalities;…

  • * Venezuela * ‘Public Diplomacy’ * ‘Missile Defense’

    GREGORY WILPERT Wilpert is a journalist living in Venezuela and the author of an upcoming book on the Chavez presidency. More Information MARK WEISBROT Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot is currently in Venezuela. He said today: “Six months ago, when the opposition forces overthrew the democratically elected government of Venezuela and installed the head of the business federation as president, the Bush administration at first welcomed the coup, retreating the next day after it became clear that other countries in the Americas were not going to recognize the illegal government…. This time around, too, neither…

  • Interviews Available on Hollywood and Baghdad

    NORMAN SOLOMON Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, which organized Sean Penn’s recent trip to Baghdad. Solomon will be returning from Baghdad late Tuesday afternoon. NORMA BARZMAN Author of the forthcoming The Red and the Blacklist: A Memoir of a Hollywood Insider, Barzman was blacklisted in 1949. She said today: “Since the blacklists, fear has been engendered into the American population.” JACK SHAHEEN Author of The TV Arab and Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Shaheen said today: “It’s encouraging that some individuals working in Hollywood are speaking their minds on American policy in…

  • Afghanistan Off the Radar?

    MARIAM RAWI, [in Pakistan], Rawi is a member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. She said today: “We are not very hopeful of the outcome of the Loya Jirga currently convening in Kabul since it’s mainly composed of fundamentalists and warlords who continue to control most of the country. These men also had substantial influence in choosing the delegates. Women continue to be deprived of basic rights, and secular and democratic values are still gravely lacking in Afghanistan. Publications are banned and journalists imprisoned for criticizing the government. We are afraid to operate openly in our own…

  • New Developments in Case of U.S. Spying on U.N. Security Council: Former British Cabinet Minister Decries Prosecution of Whistleblower

    Former British cabinet minister Tony Benn has criticized the prosecution of a woman charged with violating his country’s Official Secrets Act in connection with the leaking of a secret memorandum from the U.S. National Security Agency. The memo described wiretaps of home and office telephones along with surveillance of emails of six “swing vote” delegations from nations with votes on the U.N. Security Council early this year as the U.S. and British governments unsuccessfully sought a resolution authorizing war on Iraq. Referring to Katharine Gun, who worked as a translator at Britain’s super-secret Government Communications Headquarters and now faces up…

  • After Sean Penn’s Visit to Iraq: Reflections and Possibilities

    NORMAN SOLOMON Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, which organized Sean Penn’s recent trip to Baghdad. “After accompanying Mr. Penn during his visit to Baghdad, I’m heartened by the evident value of dialogue in the midst of this extremely ominous crisis,” Solomon said today. “His visit could inspire many Americans from various walks of life to explore how they can impede the momentum toward war, whether in Baghdad or at home in the United States.” More Information PAUL ROGAT LOEB Author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time, Loeb said today:…

  • Captive Saddam: Looking Deeper

    DOUGLAS VALENTINE Valentine is available to assess U.S. military operations in Iraq. He is author of the book The Phoenix Program, about U.S. “counter-insurgency” operations in Vietnam. More Information MIKE LOPERCIO Lopercio just returned from a fact-finding trip to Iraq where his son Anthony is a solider. More Information ANAS SHALLAL Shallal is co-founder of Iraqi Americans for Peaceful Alternatives and founder of the Mesopotamia Cultural Society. He said today: “Saddam Hussein has come to symbolize so many things in the Arab and Muslim world. He is seen as a hero (this speaks volumes about the deficit of leaders we…

  • Text of Statement by Sean Penn At News Conference in Baghdad

    The actor and director Sean Penn made the following statement at a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday afternoon: I am a citizen of the United States of America. I believe in the Constitution of the United States, and the American people. Ours is a government designed to function “of”-“by”-and-“for” the people. I am one of those people, and a privileged one. I am privileged in particular to raise my children in a country of high standards in health, welfare, and safety. I am also privileged to have lived a life under our Constitution that has allowed me to dream…

  • 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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