“War in Iraq, Conflict at Home” (A Young People’s History, Chapter 25)

(Quizlet) Video: Events that Led to Iraq War (BBC), Bush: God Told Me to go to War,
SNL Parody of Bush Declaring War in Iraq  

Introduction

1. What made people question the US government’s commitment to social justice?
2. How did American signal it was time for a change?

Afghanistan after the US Invasion

1. What was the US military’s justification for Afghan civilian loss of lives?
2. What did Bush claim about the removal of the Taliban,and why was that a lie?
3. Which statistic on the toll of the war on Afghan lives most impacted you?
4. Why was the US invasion of Afghanistan a failure?

Weapons of Mass destruction

1. What did Richard Clark say about Bush’s plans about Iraq?
2. What did the UN weapons inspectors find?
3. How was the US’s painting of Saddam hypocritical?
4. What was the real reason for the US invasion of Iraq?
5. How was Bush’s invasion of Iraq illegal?

Videos: Cost of War (Brown Univ)

The Human Cost of the Afghan War, Democracy Now

The Iraq War Begins

1. Why were Iraqis resentful towards the US invasion?
2. What did Bush’s administration go to great lengths to keep from the media?
3. Why was the title “Operation Iraqi Freedom” a lie?
4. How else was the US government violating the constitution and international law?
5. What did the US Congress vote to do in 2006?

The Anti-War Movement

1. What were US soldiers doing?
2. Why were they deserting?

Two Storms

Videos: Katrina: Live Footage, Sky News, Secure Fence Act (2006)

1. How did the Bush administration try and build nationalistic fervor?
2. What was ironic about building a wall between the US and Mexico?
3. What was shocking about hurricane Katrina?
4. How did Americans say “no” to the Bush administration?

EXTRA: (for bilingual student)

I. CIA Torture

In 2006, Bush banned torture by the military because of discriminating photos of

US soldiers torturing prisoners in Iraq (see Abu Ghraib). However, Bush did NOT ban torture by

the CIA.

Keep in mind that torturing POWs, or anyone is illegal by international law

(UN Convention Against Torture 聯合國禁止酷刑公約).

A. Abu Ghraib The name of the prison and scandal where American soldiers brutalized detained
Iraqis including rape, torture, electrocution, sodomy and even murder (weekly executions). The
brutality began in March 2003 and ended in 2006 (See CNN).

B. Waterboarding 坐水凳 A form of torture that drowns the victim so that they confess to anything. Not a reliable way to
gain factual information, and considered cruel and inhumane by most moral people.
C. Guantanamo (關塔那摩灣拘押中心) was a prison for terrorists who were subject to torture, especially waterboarding. Later a secret military file, the Manuel操作手冊 for Operation運作 of Guantanamo was leaked by military whistleblower Chelsea Manning to the website WikiLeaks
(維基解密)founded by Julian Assange (朱利安·亞桑傑). WikiLeaks and Manning published a
series of leaks 洩 including US soldiers in Iraq targeting and killing civilians and journalists.
Manning faced jail time and Assange was recently arrested in London after hiding out in an
Ecuadorean embassy for 7 years.

D. Black Sites: Secret CIA prisons where the CIA torture suspected terrorists.
When Germany found out about these Black Sites operating in Germany and other EU countries
it created a diplomatic storm. The new German leader Angela Merkel was livid and
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to go to Germany to smooth over the tension.
(See BreakingNews English). At that time, Germany and the world only knew about 8 of these
so-called sites, but after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks, we know these Black sites were far
more numerous and extensive (See Washington Post).