President Bush and Foreign Policy (A Think)

Yesterday, President Bush held a press conference. Two major topics were the international force to be sent to southern Lebanon and Iraq. The washington Post ran a story entitled Bush Says Iraq Pullout Would be a Disaster.

The article states:

(President Bush said) "Leaving before the job would be done would send a message that America really is no longer engaged, nor cares about the form of governments in the Middle East," he said. "Leaving before the job was done would send a signal to our troops that the sacrifices they made were not worth it. Leaving before the job is done would be a disaster, and that's what we're saying."

Lesson Ideas:
1. Ask students if they think that it is important for the American people to consider whether they agree with President Bush's policy decisions or not. Encourage them to support their opinions.
2. Help young students understand that in a democracy it is ok to disagree with elected leaders. All students should understand that whenever we disagree with anybody we should do so respectfully. Ask students to explain the difference between disagreeing rudely and disagreeing respectuflly.
3. In a democracy we are entitled to, or perhaps supposed to, offer our own perspectives on policy decisions made at the top of government. Ask students to write an essay offering their opinion on whether or not American forces should remain in Iraq without a definite time-table to pull out. Remind students that not every opinion is equal. The best opinions are the best supported opinions. (This article includes opinions from top Democrats who disagree with President Bush.) These opinion pieces might be posted in blogs. They could even be sent into the Washington Post as commentaries in response to today's article.
4. President Bush's Administration has worked hard to demonstrate that there was a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. Many people do not believe that such a link existed. Ask students to develop a comic strip explaining whether or not they believe that a link existed. Remember that many serious ideas have been expressed in comic strip format (e.g., Art Spiegelman's Maus - In this book, Jews are depicted as mice and the NAZIs are depicted as cats. As a Jewish activist I think that the book is both respectful and meaningful). There is certainly some controversy as to whether or not it is appropriate to use comic strips for serious topics. You might ask students there opinions on this question. To support the develop of these comic strips you might ask students to read This June 17, 2004 New York Time article which considers the relationship between Al Qaeda and Iraq.