WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ?
Critical Analysis
By Lara Maupin, a social studies teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia

Overview:
What will victory in Iraq look like? How will coalition forces know when they have won? This lesson may be used to address these questions with your students. It should take 15 -20 minutes and may be used in any social studies class.

Materials:
Students will need printed copies of the NewsHour Extra article cited below or computers with Internet access.

Correlations to National Standards

Procedure:

1. 1. Give your students some background on recent events:
   
   Explain that while government officials and forces were still a presence in Baghdad on Tuesday they were not on Wednesday.
   
   CNN reported that it was as if a switch had been flipped. Iraqis celebrated in the streets of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq and looted government properties.
   
   Iraqi-Americans in Michigan celebrated in the streets.
   
   Defense Secretary Rumsfeld stated at his morning briefing that it was "a good day for the Iraqi people." At the same time, Rumsfeld and other administration and military spokesmen and officials urged caution and warned that the war is not over.
   
   White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher stated in a Wednesday afternoon news conference that the military mission is not over and that the President would be guided by the military analysis in determining when the war is over.
   
   On the other hand, it was reported on CNN that the Iraqi ambassador to the U.N., said that "the game is over."
   
   
   

2. Have your students read the following NewsHour Extra story. Discuss:
   
   · What is the significance of Iraqis and Marines pulling down the statue of Sadddam Hussein?
   
   · What responsibility do coalition forces have to maintain security and prevent looting and chaos, if any?
   
   · Is it too soon to start looking at what happens next and the reconstruction of Iraq?
   
   For more information on this topic, you may have your students read Online NewsHour's "Winning the Peace" http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june03/peace_04-9.html
   
   

3. Ask your students how they think we will know when the war is over. What needs to happen? Brainstorm and generate a class list of requirements for victory. Suggest others and discuss. You may use the following list as a guide in your discussion. How many of the following requirements must be met for victory to be declared?
   
   · no more pockets of resistance
   
   · all of Iraq under coalition control
   
   · humanitarian aid flowing to all Iraqis in need; basic services restored
   
   · urban areas secure / no looting, rioting, or massive civil unrest
   
   · Iraqis emerging to help with civil service functions and reconstruction efforts
   
   · new Iraqi regime in place (interim / selected? democratically elected?)
   
   · Saddam Hussein accounted for and either dead or in custody
   
   · weapons of mass destruction accounted for and destroyed
   

Extension Ideas:

1. Compare the current situation in Iraq to that in Afghanistan. How important to declaring victory are the capture or death of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein? How was a new government put in place after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan? Is the process likely to be similar in Iraq? Why does fighting continue in Afghanistan? Why has the attention of the public and the media turned away from Afghanistan to some extent? Might this happen in Iraq as well? Students research, discuss, and write an analysis in which they compare/contrast the two conflicts.
   
   
2. Select one military conflict of the 20th century (For example, World War I and II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War, etc. )and research how it ended. How was victory, peace, or a cease-fire declared and by whom? What agreements were made? What lasting impact did the conflict have on those nations or groups involved in the years that followed? Students write about and/or share their findings orally.
   
   
3. Compare the fall of Saddam to the fall of Stalin. Examine photos of the two events.
   
   (Click here a picture of a fallen statue of Stalin http://travel.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,8564,-10804115628,00.html
   
   or for a picture of the defaced head of the statue of Josef Stalin from the University of Victoria.
   http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/olympics/gallery/317.html)
   
   
   What parallels can be made in terms of the symbolism of people tearing down these massive statues? What other parallels may be drawn between the two leaders? Discuss.
   
   
   
   National Standards:

National Council for the Social Studies Thematic Strands:

II. Time, Continuity and Change

V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

VI. Power, Authority, and Governance

IV. Global Connections

Author Lara Maupin teaches social studies at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. She is on leave during the 2002-2003 school year. She has a Master’s Degree in Secondary Social Studies Education from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology and Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College.

To find out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman at extra@newshour.org.