Teaching the Iraq War

By John J. Fitzgerald (2007)

The challenge of teaching students about the ongoing war in Iraq is a real one. The information in the following articles is designed to make that task easier.

We provide some of the basics: a short bibliography, a glossary of terms for the Middle East and for the U.S. military, a brief chronology of events, a unit on the justice of warfare with some readings for analysis and discussion, a few maps, a list of a few of the administrations lies about the Iraq War, a short unit on analogies between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War and a short list of the who, what, when, where and why details of the war.

The unit closes with some suggestions for follow up activities with various groups and a special section with advice for teachers, guidance counselors and students on how to deal with military recruiters.

We expect to add to the list of resources as we get feedback from teachers. Please feel free to contact John J. Fitzgerald at fitzgera@comcast.net with any comments, questions and suggestions.

• Part A: Teaching the Iraq War
• Part B: Glossary of Terms
• Part C: Chronology
• Part D: Just War
• Part E: Maps, Lies, Analogies and 5 W's
• Part E, part 2
• Part E, part 3
• Part F: Taking Action
• Part G: Other Topics