Dear Friends,

We are writing to you with deep concern about the current situation in Iraq. As of today, the death toll from the War in Iraq exceeds the death toll from the American Civil War. Since the war began on March 19, 2003, 3,320 American soldiers, 268 Coalition troops and more than 655,000 Iraqis have died. In addition, 24,764 American soldiers have been wounded.

War and all of its costs, both human and otherwise, can never be brushed off as a "necessary evil" by people of conscience. We are called to analyze and challenge the causes of war, always looking for peaceful, nonviolent solutions. We are also called to analyze and challenge the reality that war has become a source of enormous profit by people involved in the business of the military industrial complex.

A commitment to peacemaking, combined with a deep understanding of the issues at hand, will lay a foundation on which we can begin to create alternative plans of action for dealing with the injustices that breed terrorism and war-making. We hope that the resources provided below are a step in this direction.

Peace,

Jim and Leslie
Co-Directors, Educating for Justice

Here is a list of some of the books, articles, websites, and films that EFJ staff members are suggesting this month. This month’s theme is End the War in Iraq:

Films

• IRAQ FOR SALE: The War Profiteers
  This documentary tells the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war. Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald takes viewers inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
  
• My Country, My Country
  My Country, My Country finds the pulse of a country thrown violently into chaos. On the streets and roads of Iraq, a constant background noise of helicopters, explosions, gunfire, TV reports of suicide bombings and fractious opinions fill daily life. On the ground, the stakes are life and death. U.S. military trainers brief American soldiers about the growing anti-American sentiment. And many Iraqis, for all their differences, clearly share one common reality: They are as afraid of U.S. soldiers as they are of suicide bombers. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2007. To learn more about the film and to view special features, click here.
  
• Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
  Screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib is an HBO Documentary Film directed and produced by Rory Kennedy. The familiar and disturbing pictures of torture at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison raise many troubling questions: How did torture become an accepted practice at Abu Ghraib? Did U.S. government policies make it possible? How much damage has the aftermath of Abu Ghraib had on America's credibility as a defender of freedom and human rights around the world?
  
• Winter Solider
  In February 1971, one month after the revelations of the My Lai massacre, an astonishing public inquiry into war crimes committed by American forces in Vietnam was held at a Howard Johnson motel in Detroit. The Vietnam Veterans Against the War organized this event called the Winter Soldier Investigation. More than 125 veterans spoke of atrocities they had witnessed and committed. This unprecedented forum marked a turning point in the anti-war movement and was a pivotal moment in the lives of young vets from around the country who participated, including the young John Kerry. Their courage in testifying, their desire to prevent further atrocities and to regain their own humanity, provide a dramatic intensity that makes seeing Winter Soldier an unforgettable experience. View the trailer.

Books

• Weapons of Mass Deception
  by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
  Like the fall of the Berlin wall, the fall of Saddam's statue appeared to be one of those iconic moments that proved - spontaneously and undeniably - that democracy would always triumph over totalitarianism, that freedom was the great equalizer. "If you don't have goose bumps now," said Fox News anchor David Asman as the extraordinary footage rolled, "you will never have them in your life." "Jubilant Iraqis Swarm the Streets of Capital," read the New York Times headline. Or did they? Rampton and Stauber take no prisoners as they reveal - headline by headline, news show by news show, press conference by press conference - the deliberate, aggressive, and highly successful public relations campaign that sold the Iraqi war to the American public.
  
• War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
  by Chris Hedges
  Former theology student Chris Hedges discovered war fifteen years ago and quickly became addicted. As a journalist working in Central America, the former Yugoslavia, and the Middle East, he chased danger and was enthralled by the terrible things he witnessed. After fifteen years dodging artillery, Hedges hung up his flak jacket and went to work reading Thucydides, Catullus, and Remarque. His new book, War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, is the product of the year he spent thinking about why people make war.
  
• A Rumor of War
  by Philip Caputo
  A memoir about a young American man's experience in the Vietnam War, Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War is seminal war literature.

Audio

• Interview with Dr. Alfred McCoy by Amy Goodman, of Democracy Now!
  Dr. Alfred McCoy, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is author of a new expose which details the C.I.A.’s secret efforts to develop new forms of torture, spanning half a century. It reveals how the C.I.A. perfected its methods, distributing them across the world, from Vietnam to Iran to Central America, uncovering the roots of the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo torture scandals. The book is called A Question of Torture: C.I.A. Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror. February 17, 2006. Listen to the interview, watch a video of the interview, or just read the transcript.
  
• Interview with Chris Hedges by Brian Lehrer of The Brian Lehrer Show on NYC's Public Radio. Chris Hedges is author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. March 21, 2003. Listen to the interview.
  

Websites

• Voices for Creative Nonviolence
  Kathy Kelly, nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize, heads up this organization whose purpose is to nonviolently resist war. Members of Voices for Creative Nonviolence have focused on Iraq since the 1990’s, going as far as to fly into Iraq before various bombing campaigns to be in solidarity with innocent civilians who are unable to flee violence and who most often bear the brunt of war.
  
• The Granny Peace Brigade
  When a group of 18 women ages 59 to 91, many of them grandmothers, tried to enlist in the United States military on October 17, 2005, The Granny Peace Brigade was born. They asked to enlist in order to replace grandchildren who had been deployed in Iraq unnecessarily. They were denied access and were arrested and jailed. After a six-day trial, they were acquitted of all charges for their non-violent protest. That was the just beginning.
  
• The Cost of War
  See a running tally of the cost of the Iraq war by the National Priorities Project. See the breakdown of how much your state, and even your county, is paying for the War in Iraq
  

Articles and Editorials

• CNN: "Study: War Blamed for 655,000 Iraqi Deaths"
  War has wiped out about 655,000 Iraqis or more than 500 people a day since the U.S.-led invasion, an October 2006 study reports. The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  
• Salon Magazine: "Iraq: Why the Media Failed"
  Salon op-ed writer Gary Kamiya writes on a toothless press which collapsed when we needed them most.
  

We are very excited to announce that we recently launched a MySpace page for our Behind the Swoosh Campaign which includes 6 video clips as well as a new blog, featuring breaking news stories on for the campaign to end sweatshops.

The following videos are available on EFJ’s new MySpace webpage:

BEHIND THE SWOOSH
ESPN: ST. JOHN'S AND NIKE SWEATSHOPS
ABC 7:30 REPORT: NIKE SWEATSHOPS AND THE SYDNEY OLYMPICS
SKY TV: NIKE IN INDONESIA
ESPN: SPORTS IN COURT
NBC EXTRA: DAVID AND GOLIATH


Find the following news stories and action items on EFJ’s new Behind the Swoosh Blog:

Keady Pushes TIAA-CREF on Nike Investments (NY Times Article)
EFJ asks Phil Knight for Wage Rates
University of Michigan Students Protest Sweatshops
ACTION: Ask Nike to Disclose Wage Rates
ACTION: Support the Student Sit-In at USC
ACTION: Tell Nike to act at the BJ&B Factory in the Dominican Republic
ACTION: Tell University Of Maryland to Adopt the DSP

We have begun booking our popular education program, Behind the Swoosh, at colleges, high schools, and churches for the 2007-2008 School Year.

Here are some weeks and locations we are looking to fill out so far:

Week of September 4th – California
Week of October 22nd – New York
Week of March 10th - Wisconsin
Weeks to be Announced - Texas and Virginia

If you live in one of these states and are interested in our multimedia lecture, please contact us. For available dates, pricing information or to book an event, please contact Jim Keady at jim@educatingforjustice.org or call us at 732.988.7322.

To learn more about our Behind the Swoosh program and the other lecture programs that we offer, please visit EFJ Lectures.

If you would like a copy of our educational short film “Behind the Swoosh” (particularly for use in classrooms), please email Leslie Kretzu at leslie@educatingforjustice.org. We ask for a $20 donation to cover production and shipping costs for the DVD.

CLEAN CLOTHES & FAIR FOOD CONFERENCE
A Conference to Promote Justice in Factories and Fields

Sweatfree Communities and the Alliance for Fair Food have organized a conference in New York City. The goal of the conference is to provide information and skills to support communities, groups, and individuals in creating more socially responsible economic models that ensure the human rights of workers.

Through strategies such as worker organizing, selective government procurement, corporate pressure, consumer education, and solidarity relationships, it is possible to contribute toward a more just economy at local and national levels, impacting not only workers in this country but also communities and workers around the world.

Where: Columbia Law School, New York City
When: April 27-29, 2007, 7PM Friday - 5PM Sunday
To Register: click here

For more information: 413-586-0974 | conference@sweatfree.org

*EFJ Co-Directors will be presenting "Behind the Swoosh: Sweatshops and Social Justice" on Saturday, April 28th from 9:00-10:30am at Columbia Law School.

The conference program is available online, where you can see the full list of presenters and workshops. Presenters include the following:

Bama Athreya, International Labor Rights Fund

Bjorn Claeson, SweatFree Communities

Deborah Schwartz, Portland Sweatfree Campaign, Global Exchange

Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu, Educating for Justice

Julia Quiñonez, Comité Fronterizo de Obreros, Mexico

Lucas Benitez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Reverend Noelle Damico, Presbyterian Church USA's Campaign for Fair Food

Rini Chakraborty, Sweatshop Watch

Scott Nova, Worker Rights Consortium

...and many more!

Registration: $50-100 sliding scale; students & un(der)employed - $25-75 sliding scale. Plus, some scholarships are still available -- contact Sweatfree Communities for more info.

And...don't miss:

REVEREND BILLY'S SWEAT FREE REVIVAL

Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping stage a revival service in conjunction with the Clean Clothes and Fair Food Conference taking place at Columbia University April 27-29. The smoking hot 30-voice choir and 7-piece band deliver rousing music while Reverend Billy preaches the powerful and powerfully funny Stop Your Shopping gospel. This is a rare opportunity to catch the show Uptown and The Church's last local performance of the season.

Where: Broadway Presbyterian Church, Sanctuary
601 West 114th Street on Broadway, New York, NY

When: Saturday, April 28, 2007, 8:00-9:30 PM

Door: $5-15 give what you can. Free for registered conference participants.

More info: www.revbilly.com