August 28, 2002

WAR GAMES
Exploring the Potential of United States Military Action Against Iraq

Grades:  6-8, 9-12

Subjects:  Civics, Current Events, Global History, Social Studies

Related New York Times Article
"Lessons Cheney Says Peril of a Nuclear Iraq Justifies an Attack, By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JAMES DAO", August 28, 2002

Overview of Lesson Plan:: In this lesson, students examine the issues outlined in Vice President Cheney's recent speech about potential United States military action against Iraq. To extend analysis of these issues, each student takes on the role of the President of the United States and writes a speech that he or she would deliver to the United Nations on the topic.

SUGGESTED TIME ALLOWANCE:   1 hour

OBJECTIVES:
Students will:

1. Respond to an excerpt from Vice President Dick Cheney's speech delivered on August 26, 2002 about the possibility of a United States attack against Iraq.
2. Learn about Vice President Cheney's views about how the United States should handle a potential conflict with Iraq, as well as the responses to those views, by reading and discussing "Cheney Says Peril of a Nuclear Iraq Justifies an Attack."
3. Participate in a "fishbowl discussion" to more critically explore the issue.
4. Assume the role of President of the United States and compose a hypothetical speech to deliver to the United Nations on September 12, 2002 regarding this issue.

RESOURCES / MATERIALS:

• copies of the full text of Vice President Cheney's speech from August 26, 2002 (Speech at VFW 103rd National Convention) (one per student)
• student journals
• pens/pencils
• paper
• classroom blackboard
• copies of the article "Cheney Says Peril of a Nuclear Iraq Justifies an Attack" (one per student)

ACTIVITIES / PROCEDURES:

1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Prior to class, place a copy of the full text of Vice President Cheney's speech from August 26, 2002 on each student's desk, and write the following prompt on the board: "You are listening to Vice President Cheney arguing his support for a United States invasion of Iraq. As you listen, free-write in your journal about what you hear. You can make notes about your own response to the arguments you hear for later discussion, or you can write about ideas you have listening to the speech." Upon students entering class, play the audio version of the speech, or if necessary, read excerpts of the speech aloud as students respond to the writing prompt in their journals. After a few minutes, ask students to share their responses.
2. As a class, read and discuss the article "Cheney Says Peril of a Nuclear Iraq Justifies an Attack," focusing on the following questions:
   1. In his speech on August 26, 2002, what action did Vice President Cheney argue that the United States should take?
   2. Why does Mr. Cheney believe that now is the time to attack Iraq?
   3. What does Mr. Cheney believe Saddam Hussein's goals are?
   4. Does the White House believe that President Bush is required to seek approval from Congress before launching an attack on Iraq? Why or why not?
   5. How does Mr. Cheney's speech address critics who argue that the United States does not have sufficient information about Iraq's nuclear capabilities to take military action against Iraq?
   6. Why does Mr. Cheney believe that sending United Nations weapons inspectors to Iraq would be a useless endeavor?
   7. How did Republicans who favor war react to the Vice President's speech?
   8. How did Republicans who oppose war react to the Vice President's speech?
   9. According to Senator Chuck Hagel, what was confusing about the speech?
   10. What did the previous week's radio broadcast into Kuwait urge the Iraqi people to do?
3. Explain to the class that they will be participating in a "fishbowl" discussion on the possible United States invasion of Iraq. First, ask students to number off one to five, and then keep a list on the board of all "1's," "2's," "3's," "4's," and "5's." Ask all "1's" to sit facing one another in the middle of a circle created by the rest of the students. The students in the center are the only ones allowed to speak. If a student from the outer circle wants to add to the discussion, he or she moves to the middle of the circle, taps a participant to indicate that he or she should resume a place in the outer circle, and takes that student's place as the new person in the discussion. After discussing the first question, switch the students in the center to all "2's," and allow the same fishbowl procedure to occur. Be sure to switch discussion questions enough times so that all students have the opportunity to be in the center of the discussion at least once.
   Some suggested questions for the fishbowl discussion include:
   • Is it a good idea for the United States to launch an attack on Iraq without being absolutely certain that Saddam Hussein does indeed have nuclear weapons? Why or why not?
   • Should President Bush be required to seek and obtain the approval of Congress before launching such an attack?
   • Do you agree or disagree with Vice President Cheney's statement that "the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of action?" Why?
   • What alternative courses of action does the United States have in this situation other than launching an attack?
   • With the notable exception of the United Kingdom, the rest of the countries of the world do not support a United States invasion of Iraq. Should this be a factor in the United States' decision? Why or why not?
4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Students respond to the following prompt, written on the board for them to copy prior to leaving class: "According to the article read in class, President Bush is scheduled to discuss Iraq at the United Nations on September 12, 2002. Based on your understanding of the situation, both from the class discussions and from any other research you might conduct, write a speech that you would give to the United Nations if you were the President of the United States. What actions would you advocate? What reasons would you give? Remember that the speech is scheduled to be delivered on the day after the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. You may wish to refer to the events of that day in your speech." Students should share their speeches in a future class.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Some people have suggested that a preferable course of action to war with Iraq would be to support the Iraqi people in their own efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Do you agree with this suggestion? Why or why not?
• The article describes the administration debates over whether or not to begin this war as "uncharacteristically public." Do you believe the public has a right to know every aspect of the discussion over this potential invasion, or should more elements be kept secret to protect our national security interests? Why?
• How successful do you think the "war on terrorism" has been? Why?

EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT:
Students will be evaluated based on initial journal entries, participation in class and group discussions, and thoughtfully-written speeches.

VOCABULARY:
rationale, domination, quell, ousted, inaction, allies, regime, prominent, expatriates, brutality, resolutions, authority, precision, dictator, perilous, defectors, subsequently, debriefed, pre-emptive, imperative, asserting, deliberate, disjointed, oppression

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

1. Read the full text of Vice President Cheney's speech, and write a Letter to the Editor explaining whether you agree or disagree with his ideas.
2. Create a map of the Middle East to show the countries that make up this region, whom their leaders are, and the nature of their relationship with the United States.
3. Create a made-for-television biography about Saddam Hussein. Include details about his personal life and family, and chronicle his rise to power and his political actions as the leader of Iraq.
4. Create an illustrated timeline of the relationship between the United States and Iraq in the past fifteen years.
5. Draw a flow chart to illustrate the balance of power among the branches of the United States government. How do they three branches keep each other from gaining an unbalanced amount of power?

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS:
American History- Research the Persian Gulf conflict of 1991, in which the former President George Bush launched an attack against Saddam Hussein. Design a pamphlet to teach young people who do not remember these recent events the similarities and differences between that campaign, known as Operation Desert Storm, and this potential conflict with Iraq.

Journalism/Language Arts- Gather editorials written by people with strong opinions on this issue. Imagine that you are editing a compilation of these articles to be published as a book, entitled "Opinions on the Potential U.S.-Iraq Conflict." Select four to ten articles for inclusion in your book, and write the preface for this book, comparing and contrasting the various opinions you have chosen to include.

Media Studies- The use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States has been a prominent theme in many American movies. Write an article for an entertainment magazine about the seeming obsession with this theme. Cite several movies to support your arguments.

Science- Create a poster to explain how nuclear weapons work. What is the physics behind nuclear weapons? What kinds of damage do they cause, and over how big of an area? How does the damage vary according to how far you are from the bomb's detonation?

---

Copyright 2002
The New York Times Company