Want to create a campus committee to oppose the war in Afghanistan?

There’s a kit for that.

The “UUP Campus Anti-War Committees Start-Up Kit” provides detailed information, tips, contact information and other data needed for chapters to form anti-war committees on their campuses. The kit, prepared by UUP’s Labor and Higher Education Committee, was co-authored by Stony Brook UUPer Michael Zweig and New Paltz member Donna Goodman.

Also part of the kit: “Why Are We in Afghanistan?”—a DVD presentation written and produced by Zweig. The video measures the effectiveness of fighting terror with military means, and discusses the effect the war has had on U.S. economy. The video opposes the war but takes a realistic look at Al Qaeda, the terrorism threat and American interests abroad.

Members of the Labor and Higher Education committee prepared the kit in response to a 2009 UUP resolution to oppose further escalation of the war in Afghanistan and to begin bringing U.S. soldiers home; NYSUT delegates approved a similar resolution at the 2010 Representative Assembly in April.

A copy of the UUP resolution is in the kit, along with fact sheets on topics such as “Five Reasons to Oppose the War in Afghanistan,” “War and the Economy,” “Frequently Asked Questions on the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” and “U.S. Labor Against the War Mission Statement.”

The kit is available at www.uupinfo.org/reports/CampusAntiWarCommKit_FINAL.pdf. The DVD can be viewed and purchased at www.WhyAreWeInAfghanistan.org.

People interested in forming an anti-war committee can contact Goodman or Zweig.

— Michael Lisi