TRUE CRIMES: THE UNTOLD STORY BEHIND THE DEVASTATION OF IRAQ

Join bestselling author JEREMY SCAHILL, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer CHRIS HEDGES, journalist LAILA AL-ARIAN, and the New Yorker's SEYMOUR HERSH, as they go behind the headlines to tell the untold story of the occupation of Iraq, the daily plight of Iraqi civilians, and the ongoing role of private mercenaries in America's "War on Terror."

The event is a dual book launch for COLLATERAL DAMAGE: AMERICA'S WAR AGAINST IRAQI CIVILIANS by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian, and the updated paperback edition of BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY by Jeremy Scahill.

The conversation will be followed by audience questions and a book signing.

Town Hall, 123 W 43rd St, New York NY 10036.

3 June, 7 p.m.

$10/$15/$20

Tickets are available at The Town Hall Box Office (www.the-townhall-nyc.org) or at Ticketmaster (212-307-4100 / www.ticketmaster.com)

Cosponsored by The Nation, Public Concern Foundation, Democracy Now!, The Indypendent, CERSC, Democrats.com, Peace Action New York, Alternet and Tricycle.

For more information, visit www.nationinstitute.org.

BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY by Jeremy Scahill

Winner of the George Polk Book Award

"A crackling expose." - The New York Times Book Review

"[Scahill] is a one-man truth squad." - Bill Moyers

"The most important and chilling book about the death throes of U.S. democracy you will read in years. . . a triumph of investigative reporting." - Naomi Klein

On September 16, 2007, Baghdad's Nisour Square exploded into pandemonium. Machine-gun fire sprayed across the square leaving17 Iraqi civilians dead, among them women and children. The shooting spree, labeled "Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," was neither the work of Iraqi insurgents nor U.S. soldiers. The shooters were private forces working for the secretive mercenary company, Blackwater Worldwide.

Within 24 hours, the Iraqi government demanded that Blackwater's forces leave the country and the killers be handed over to Iraqi courts to face trial for murder. But just three days later, they were back on the streets of Iraq. For Blackwater is not just any US war contractor; it is the official mercenary force of the US occupation.

This is the explosive story of a company that rose a decade ago from North Carolina to become one of the most powerful players in America's War on Terror. In his gripping bestseller, award-winning journalist Jeremy Scahill takes us from the bloodied streets of Fallujah to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to the chambers of power in Washington, and reveals that only is Blackwater as a central part of US war machine, but mercenary forces will be with us for years and conflicts to come.

JEREMY SCAHILL is a Polk Award-winning investigative journalist. He is a frequent contributor to The Nation and a correspondent for Democracy Now! Scahill has reported extensively from Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, and Nigeria. He is currently a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE: AMERICA'S WAR AGAINST IRAQI CIVILIANS by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian

In this devastating expose of a military occupation gone awry, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Chris Hedges and journalist Laila Al-Arian reveal the terrifying reality of daily civilian life in Iraq at the hands of U.S. troops. Based on hundreds of hours of interview with combat veterans, Collateral Damage represents the largest number of named eyewitnesses from within the US military to have testified on the record. These veterans, many of whom have come to oppose the war, explain the tactics and operations that have turned many Iraqis against the US military.

A stark an unflinching narrative, Collateral Damage exposes the true consequences of the war that the American government has unleashed in Iraq.

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist CHRIS HEDGES is the former Middle East Bureau Chief of the New York Times, and a Senior Fellow at The Nation Institute. He is the author of several books including War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. Hedges lives in Princeton, NJ.

LAILA AL-ARIAN is a graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She has written for a number of publications including The Nation, United Press International, Huffingtonpost.com, the Dupont Current and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

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