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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Obama's Nobel Prize vs. Policies

WASHINGTON

The following analysts are available to talk about Obama administration policies and the advancement of peace:

JODY WILLIAMS
Nobel Laureate Williams is now chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative. She recently wrote the piece "United States' shameful land mine policy: By refusing to join the Mine Ban Treaty, Obama shows disregard for international humanitarian law," which states: "Obama's position on land mines calls into question his expressed views on multilateralism, respect for international humanitarian law and disarmament. How can he, with total credibility, lead the world to nuclear disarmament when his own country won't give up even land mines?"

Williams was the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, for which she was awarded, along with the organization, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

NORMAN SOLOMON
Currently in Washington, D.C., Solomon is the author of "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." He was in Afghanistan in late summer. Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

KATHY KELLY

Kelly is co-coordinator of the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She is a signatory to a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee signed by dozens of peace groups. The letter states "we ... are distressed that President Obama, so close upon his receipt of this honor, has opted to escalate the U.S. war in Afghanistan with the deployment of 30,000 additional troops. We regret that he could not be guided by the example of a previous Nobel Peace Laureate, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who identified his peace prize as 'profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time...' Declaring his opposition to the Vietnam War, Dr. King insisted that 'no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war ... We must continue to raise our voices and our lives if our nation persists in its perverse ways.'"

On Saturday, Kelly will speak at a rally in front of the White House against the escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.