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News Releases

  • * North Korea and Nonproliferation Treaty * Venezuela Oil Strike

    JOHN BURROUGHS Executive director of the New York-based Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy and co-editor of Rule of Power or Rule of Law? — An Assessment of U.S. Policies and Actions Regarding Security-Related Treaties, Burroughs said today: “Like North Korea, the United States is violating its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). The United States promised not to use nuclear arms against NPT non-nuclear states, but the Bush administration’s 2002 Nuclear Posture Review includes a scenario for U.S. nuclear use against a non-nuclear North Korean attack. The administration treats the NPT Article VI obligation of good-faith negotiation of nuclear…

  • * Penn on ‘Larry King’ * Halliday Back from Iraq

    Actor and director Sean Penn appeared on CNN’s “Larry King” program on Saturday night. When King asked if he hesitated to go to Iraq “because you have children,” Penn replied: “Well, I went because I have children.” The full text of the interview is available at: www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0301/11/lklw.00.html DENIS HALLIDAY Halliday is a former head of the UN oil-for-food program and a former UN Assistant Secretary General. He has just returned from Iraq and is available for a limited number of interviews. He said today: “In talking with people in the street and with Iraqi families, there was a tangible fear…

  • September 11 Family Members in Iraq

    Family members of people killed in the September 11 attacks are currently in Iraq. The four-member delegation represents September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an advocacy group seeking effective, non-violent alternatives to war and terrorism. Other members of Peaceful Tomorrows in the U.S. are available for interviews including DAVID POTORTI, who lost his brother, Jim, in the World Trade Center. Potorti is reachable at: More Information More Information COLLEEN KELLY Kelly lost her brother, Bill, at the World Trade Center on September 11. Kelly went to Iraq because she “wanted to understand that Iraq is not just one man, Saddam…

  • Denis Halliday, Former UN Official, in Iraq

    DENIS HALLIDAY Halliday is a former head of the UN oil-for-food program and a former UN Assistant Secretary General. Over the last few days he has met with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, and Trade Minister Mohammad Saleh, as well as the heads of UNICEF and UNDP in Iraq, two Iraqi families and numerous shopkeepers he knew from his earlier time in Baghdad. He said today: “The majority of Iraqis are staying together with families at home, there’s little sign of a mass exodus as there was in 1991. The government has distributed three months of…

  • Bush’s Plan: Paying Dividends to Whom?

    In connection with the “growth and jobs” plan put forward by President Bush today, the following analysts are available for interviews: RANDY ALBELDA Albelda is a professor of economics and chair of the Public Policy Ph.D. program at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. She said today: “With unemployment rates climbing, the income and wealth gaps between the rich and poor reaching 1920s levels, and states facing $80 billion worth of budget deficits, we desperately need a stimulus package that puts people to work, helps close the income gap and substantially prevents states from laying off workers and cutting valuable…

  • Analysts on Korea Crisis

    CHALMERS JOHNSON Author of Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire and Okinawa: Cold War Island, Johnson is a specialist on the politics and economics of East Asia and a veteran of the Korean War. He said today: “Bush came into office saying that he did not want to negotiate with North Korea. Even under Clinton, the U.S. was failing to fulfill its agreements with the North Koreans. The U.S. has essentially caused the current crisis with its belligerent stance toward North Korea, including its rebuff of South Korean President Kim’s peace initiative (for which he won the 2000…

  • “Global Apartheid” for Christmas? * Africa * Iraq

    SALIH BOOKER Over the weekend the White House announced the cancellation of President Bush’s January trip to Africa. Booker, executive director of Africa Action, said today: “The administration thinks they’ve addressed enough Black issues with the replacement of Lott and so they callously dump Africa again. The Bush administration is disinterested in Africa aside from oil imports and the use of African territory in Washington’s ‘war on terrorism.’ The U.S. government continues shamelessly to limit funding for AIDS programs in Africa and supports the pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to enforce draconian patent laws against poor countries seeking affordable medicines.” The Guardian…

  • Interviews on Fallout From Iraqi Disclosures

    JACQUELINE CABASSO ANDREW LICHTERMAN Cabasso is the executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation, a nuclear disarmament advocacy group in California; Lichterman is the program director. They have co-authored a series of papers on nuclear weapons and related high-tech weaponry; the most recent is “The End of Disarmament and the Arms Races to Come.” Cabasso said today: “Whether Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction remains to be seen. Meanwhile its chief accuser, the United States, is blatantly brandishing its own. The ‘National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction,’ released by the White House just last week, combines…

  • * Penn’s Words Distorted * Views on Dissent

    The following statement has been released by Sean Penn’s office: In sharp contrast to some misleading claims — primarily emanating from media outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch — the statements made by Sean Penn about Iraq have been clear and straightforward. In his open letter to President Bush, printed in The Washington Post on October 18, 2002, Mr. Penn wrote: “There can be no acceptance of the criminal viciousness of the tyrant, Saddam Hussein.” As has been widely reported by responsible American media organizations, Sean Penn conducted himself with care and sensitivity to his fellow Americans while in Iraq. Sean…

  • Sean Penn Arrives in Baghdad for Three-Day Visit

    The actor and director Sean Penn arrived in Baghdad on Friday morning at the start of a three-day visit to Iraq. “By the invitation of the Institute for Public Accuracy, I have the privileged opportunity to pursue a deeper understanding of this frightening conflict,” Penn said in a statement released in Washington and Baghdad on Friday. “I would hope that all Americans will embrace information available to them outside conventional channels. As a father, an actor, a filmmaker, and a patriot, my visit to Iraq is for me a natural extension of my obligation (at least attempt) to find my…

  • 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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