Wrong Again!!

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "New Data, New Methods, New Conclusion." The article begins, "How could American intelligence agencies have overstated Iran’s intentions in 2005 so soon after being reprimanded for making similar errors involving Iraq?" "Current and former intelligence officials insist that much of the 2005 Iran report still holds up to scrutiny. At the same time, they acknowledge that in retrospect, some of its conclusions appear to have been thinly sourced and were based on methodology less rigorous than was ultimately required under an intelligence overhaul that did not begin in earnest until later. "

Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Younger Children

• Ask your students if they have ever done something wrong, learned from their mistakes, and then did the thing correctly? What did they do? Was it easier to do the first time or the second? Why?
• Do your students think it's OK to make mistakes? Why/why not? Is it OK to make the same mistake over and over? Why/why not?
• Have your students ever played a guessing game? What does it mean to guess? Are some guesses better than others? What kinds of things should somebody remember to be a good guesser?
• Have your students ever blamed somebody for doing something only to find out that the person actually didn't do it? What did they think the person had done? Do students think it's easier to blame others? Why/why not? Should we always do what is easy? Why/why not?

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Blistering; Methodology; Illicit; and, Overstating.
• Ask students to imagine they were compiling an intelligence report on the presence, or absence, of nuclear weapons in Iran. What questions would they try to answer in order to determine if such weapons were present? To whom would they ask these questions? Do students think it would be possible to attain credible answers? Why/why not?
• Ask students to respond to the following statement: "It's OK for spies to produce incorrect reports. After all, nobody is going to provide spies with the exact information for which they are looking.
• What would it mean for one country to be dangerous to another? It's highly unlikely that Iran will attack the United States of America. Is it still possible for Iran to pose danger to the U.S.? Why/why not? What does it mean for a country to have national interests? What are the national interests of the U.S.?