America goes to war.

On March 19, U.S. troops attacked Iraq in an effort to disarm the nation and remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power. As U.S. President George W. Bush said, "The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this threat, but we will do everything to defeat it. Instead of drifting along toward tragedy, we will set a course toward safety."

In this difficult time, Junior Scholastic and www.scholastic.com/news can be invaluable resources to help your students understand and stay up-to-date on all the latest information about the war. In this issue, we give you six pages of war coverage, including a map, debate, and time line of U.S.-Iraqi relations, all of which will help you explain this historic event to students. You will also receive a special News Map poster and skills masters.

Our USA feature discusses Arab-Americans and the difficulties these U.S. citizens have experienced since September 11, 2001. Your students will learn more about the contributions of Arab-Americans to life in the U.S., and the fears they have in the face of a war in Iraq.

On page 14, you will find a World History Play about King Henry VIII and his yearning for a son, a quest that would change England forever. And, in observance of Earth Day, we present our Snapshots of the Earth skills pages. This feature includes data that will help your students determine the health of the planet.

You may notice that this issue of JS arrived in your classrooms on the heels of our March 28, 2003, issue. We are making every effort to bring our coverage of the war to your classrooms in as timely a manner as possible.

Suzanne McCabe, Editor

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