accuracy.org

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…

  • Debate Breaks Out on Efforts to Pressure Burma About Human Rights

    WASHINGTON — In the largest such effort since the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, the state of Massachusetts and some 20 cities and localities are effectively refusing to buy from companies that do business in Burma, where a military junta seized power and human rights abuses persist. Now, salvos are being fired about the legitimacy…

  • At the End of Sweltering Month, Denial on Global Warming

    WASHINGTON — Despite record temperatures and the prevalent view of the scientific community, some denial about global warming has not melted. In recent days, a troop of global-warming deniers journeyed to Capitol Hill. Patrick Michaels of the Cato Institute was among those who testified Wednesday disputing the scientific weight of evidence on climate change. A…

  • Killing at School: Behind the Images

    WASHINGTON — In two weeks, the boys accused of the deadly shooting spree at their school in Jonesboro, Arkansas go on trial. Criminal justice and youth experts associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy say the trial — scheduled to get underway shortly before millions of students across the nation return to classes — should…

  • Claims for Privatizing Social Security Called

    WASHINGTON — While a prominent think tank claimed Monday that privatizing Social Security would help American women, a past president of the American Economic Association called the conclusions “preposterous.” Robert Eisner said the plan would actually harm women and severely damage Social Security as a system of social insurance. The Cato Institute — whose major…

  • Backers of International Court Challenge Nay-Sayers

    WASHINGTON — As discussions on the International Criminal Court treaty were coming to a close in Rome today, backers of a strong Court criticized the U.S. delegation’s end-game approach at the historic meeting. Some Court advocates took particular exception to the common argument that the Court would open a legal Pandora’s box, saying that such…

  • “Notable Hypocrisy” Cited as Prominent Think Tank Urges Funding Disclosure by Witnesses at Capitol

    WASHINGTON — A new report by one of the nation’s most influential think tanks, the Heritage Foundation, criticizes witnesses who testified on Capitol Hill without disclosing grants they had received from the U.S. government. But the report does not mention that the Heritage Foundation presented congressional testimony on American policies toward North Korea without acknowledging…

  • Alternatives to Federal Anti-Drug Policies

    WASHINGTON — With a $195 million federal anti-drug ad campaign now underway, some experts on drug policies and the law are questioning the effectiveness of the latest efforts to curb drug use. Among those available for comment are: DARRYL COLBERT Program Administrator for the Substance Abuse Network of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington,…

  • What Should Be Done With the Budget Surplus?

    WASHINGTON — For the first time in decades, government officials and policy wonks in the nation’s capital are talking about what to do with a federal budget surplus. The Congressional Budget Office predicts a surplus of between $43 billion and $63 billion this year. While many in Washington are pushing for tax cuts, some policy…

  • While Clinton Offers Reassurances in Hong Kong, Some Critics Dispute His Economic Assumptions

    WASHINGTON — President Clinton hopes that his public statements in Hong Kong on Friday will help to soothe jitters about economic turmoil in Asia. But some policy analysts in the United States are raising fundamental questions about the recent upheaval that has roiled the economies of many Asian nations. Despite assurances from U.S. officials, critics…

  • Critics Question Human Rights Standards

    WASHINGTON — While many applaud statements by President Clinton in China specifically citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, analysts associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy are raising questions about selective adherence to the Declaration’s provisions. Among those available for comment are: ANURADHA MITTAL Mittal, policy director at the Institute for Food and Development…

Mastodon