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Amanda Roraback's World in a Nutshell |
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Resources News-related Activities: Middle and High Schools Using News in Elementary School (Example: Iraq) Benefits of using news in the classroom Articles Pakistan's president declares state of emergency Israel's premier has prostrate cancer (Oct. 30, 2007) Iran's president visits New York
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Britain pulls out of Iraq |
Pakistan in a Nutshell |
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ARTICLE BREAKDOWN
1) Headline “BRITAIN PLANS TO WITHDRAW HALF ITS TROOPS FROM IRAQ” (jump line headline “Opposition to war keeps rising in Britain”) 2) What happened a. (Deck) The 2,500 who remain will focus on a training role rather than on active combat. b. (Own words) Britain will pull out troops. The ones left behind will work on training and not combat. 3) Questions? a. Why is Britain pulling out troops? b. What will happen when the troops are pulled? c. What will the ones left behind do? 4) Who’s Who? a. Tony Blair – Britain’s former prime minister b. Gordon Brown – the new prime minister c. Army General David H. Petraeus – the overall U.S. commander in Iraq. d. General George W. Casey Jr. – Army chief of staff. 5) Where is it? a. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia) b. Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea c. Border with Iran and Saudi Arabia 6) Back Story a. Britain i. War is very unpopular in Britain ii. Tony Blair lost power because of involvement in Iraq iii. Gordon Brown became new Prime Minister in June 2007 b. Britain in Iraq i. Britain had 50,000 troops in Iraq in 2003 ii. To less than 12,000 iii. Will drop to 2,500 c. Southern Iraq i. Power struggles in south among Shiite Muslim factions. d. Britain has been handing back control of large swaths of southern Iraq to newly trained Iraqi forces. e. Other troops
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1. Including Japan, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands 2. A total of 25 nations remain part of the force. 7) Details a. Britain in Iraq i. Britain will keep “overwatch” role in Iraq ii. Will help Iraqi govt. build their security forces so that they can take full responsibility for the security of their own country. b. US i. Makes up 93% of total foreign force ii. US forces concentrated in Baghdad and other regions in the north. c. Southern Iraq i. Region includes some of the nation’s biggest oil fields ii. Only access to the sea iii. 200 miles of its long border with Iran iv. Main supply line from Kuwait d. Demonstrations against war in Britain i. 1000s of protestors marched through central London to the parliament on Monday ii. 170 British soldiers lost lives. 8) Controversy? a. Britain – should Britain have troops in Iraq? i. 30% said wanted troops out as soon as possible ii. 40% said wanted time limit of 18 months b. Enough reductions in troops? i. 2,500 – “what can you do with 2,500 troops? It’s simply a political gesture to support George Bush c. Reasons Britain should not be involved in Iraq i. Catastrophe – paid in resources and reputation ii. No longer serves any realistic military or political purpose. iii. Britain has already fulfilled moral obligation to the people of Iraq. 1. Now obligation is to the young men and women of our armed forces. d. Britain should stay in i. Reduction signal’s Britain’s unwillingness to access to US requests for help in patrolling the troublesome Iranian border. ii. Importance of the south iii. American allies might have to backfill troops. e. Is the move just a political ploy by Gordon Brown? i. With Brown there’s an exit strategy 9) Why it matters a. Departure of British troops might encourage other countries to leave as well i. Might also encourage insurgents by sending message of victory b. Without British troops there will be a bigger burden placed on American troops c. Sends signal to Americans i. Who are also against the war d. If southern Iraq falls i. Could disrupt transport of oil and other products to Gulf of Arabia ii. Could disrupt the extraction of oil from the oil fields (some of nation’s biggest oil fields are in southern Iraq). 1. Without oil, where will the Iraqis (or Americans) get the funds needed to rebuild the country? iii. Border with Iran 1. Will chaos in southern Iraq cause Iran to become more involved? 10) Why it matters to you a. Price of oil could go up – which would raise the cost of transportation and the price of goods b. More money may be needed to pick up the slack – will require higher taxes c. Terrorists might see it as a victory d. Iran might be emboldened to participate in Iraq in order to protect its borders – could push US closer to war with Iran e. If US needs more troops the government may begin drafting soldiers. 11) Future a. Brown hopes to have all forces out of Iraq before elections i. Tentatively expected in spring 2008 b. Britain expectations of training 35,000 Iraqi security forces to take over in the south by spring. c. Violence in Basra (rooted in an internal Shiite power struggle) that the Iraqi govt. must resolve. 12) What to look for a. What will happen when the troops withdraw? b. Will fighting in S. Iraq become more intense without Br. troops to monitor the situation? c. Will the insurgency become more emboldened? d. Will Iran become involved? e. Will the US govt. be more or less inclined to withdraw troops as a result? 13) Vocabulary 14) Summary a. Who? British b. What? Will pull troops out of southern Iraq c. Why? Political pressure at home d. When? By spring 2008 e. Where? f. How?
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