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News Releases

  • Colin Powell in the Spotlight: The Record Behind the Image

    A new USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found that — “when it comes to U.S. policy toward Iraq” — Americans trust Secretary of State Colin Powell more than President Bush by a margin of 63-24 percent. With Powell appearing before the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, the following analysts are available for interviews, offering perspectives on Powell’s record that run counter to conventional wisdom: NORMAN SOLOMON Solomon is co-author of the new book Target Iraq, which includes an extensive assessment of Powell’s role in relation to Iraq during late 2002. The book also critiques milestones of Powell’s career in Washington, including his…

  • The Columbia Disaster: Interviews Available

    LLOYD J. DUMAS Dumas is the author of Lethal Arrogance: Human Fallibility and Dangerous Technologies and is a professor of political economy at the University of Texas at Dallas. He said today: “The tragic breakup of the space shuttle Columbia as it re-entered the atmosphere this morning once more underlines the vulnerability of highly complex technologies. It is too early to know what caused the shuttle to disintegrate — human error, technical failure, or something else. But the lesson is clear: when fallible human beings interact with powerful technologies, failures are inevitable. This time, the failure took the lives of…

  • Fact-Checking and Spin-Checking President Bush: A Critical Assessment at Accuracy.org/2003

    The Institute for Public Accuracy today released an in-depth analysis of key claims in President Bush’s State of the Union Address, drawing on the work of more than 20 analysts. The critique — available at www.accuracy.org/2003 — focuses on issues of foreign policy and the domestic economy. Contributing analysts who are available for interviews include: JILL NELSON Author and columnist, Nelson is available for a general assessment of the address. DEAN BAKER Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. DIANA ZUCKERMAN Zuckerman is president of the National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families. DOUG…

  • Former U.N. Official Just Back From Iraq

    A former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, Denis Halliday, will be available for interviews back in New York City on Tuesday afternoon and evening. He will also be available for interviews in London on Thursday and Friday. Halliday, who headed the U.N. oil-for-food program, has just returned from three days in Iraq. On Sunday night in Baghdad, he met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Halliday was accompanied on the trip by Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, who also participated in the meetings with Sabri and Aziz.…

  • Former U.N. Official Says Bush Plans Could “Annihilate Iraqi Society”

    BAGHDAD — A former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations said tonight that the United States and Britain are proceeding with plans to “annihilate Iraqi society, a catastrophe that would be heightened by the threatened use of tactical nuclear weaponry.” Denis J. Halliday told a news conference in Baghdad that he was “greatly impressed by the courage and vibrancy of the Iraqi people I met both in the Baghdad souk and in the elite lobby of the Al Rashid Hotel. I am hugely respectful of the cool manner in which ordinary people face up to the threat of war…

  • * Sharon * United Nations * Venezuela

    AMER ABDELHADI Manager of an independent radio station, TMFM, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Abdelhadi said today: “The city is under a very brutal curfew, with Israeli soldiers increasing their abuses. There is a lot of speculation that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is hoping this will increase the chances for suicide bombings which he hopes would help him in the upcoming election.” More Information PHYLLIS BENNIS Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Bennis is author of the just-released Understanding the U.S.-Iraq Crisis: A Primer. Bennis said today: “A U.S.-led alliance would not be a ‘coalition of…

  • * Traveling to and from Iraq * The Discovered Iraqi Shells * U.S. Pressure on Turkey

    KATHY KELLY, STEPHANIE SCHAUDEL, DANNY MULLER Dr. DAVID HILFIKER, BERT SACKS Voices in the Wilderness campaign members who have refused payment of $50,000 in fines for their previous travel to Iraq will hold a press conference at the National Press Club (Tuesday, January 21 at 9:30 a.m.) to announce future delegations and assert continued readiness to challenge both economic sanctions and U.S.-led warfare against Iraq. Returned activists will offer testimony, photographs, and information, based on their recent travel to Iraq as members of the Iraq Peace Team. JAMES JENNINGS Jennings is president of Conscience International and coordinator of “U.S. Academics…

  • Critics of Bush Stance on Iraq

    With major anti-war protests set for Washington and San Francisco this weekend, the following are available for interviews: SUSAN WRIGHT Author of Biological Warfare and Disarmament: New Problems/New Perspectives, Wright is available for a limited number of interviews. She said today: “The focus on these shells illustrates the kind of double bind that is being applied on Iraq by the Bush administration: If nothing is found, the administration argues that the weapons must be hidden. If something is found, there is then an attempt to argue that Iraq has violated the UN resolution. Either way, this is not a cause…

  • Martin Luther King and War

    Quotations from King’s speeches on war and peace, as well as on racism and exploitation, are available at: www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR011702.htm Following are excerpts and links to audio from his sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on April 30, 1967: I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government…. There is something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that would praise you when you say, “Be nonviolent toward Jim Clark,” but…

  • * 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…

  • 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…

  • Clinton in China: Balancing Business and Rights?

    WASHINGTON — Reports of a “large-scale” signing and major business deals on tap during the U.S.-China summit are intensifying the concerns of some analysts. Many support dialogue with the world’s most populous nation, but they remain troubled by President Clinton’s handling of economic, military and human rights issues. Among those available for comment are: JAMES…

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