How ABC & Scholastic tie 9/11 and Iraq together:

[kurth]

As Media Matters for America first reported, the ABC and Scholastic-produced "Discussion Guide for the Classroom" that provides background information to students about 9/11 and the Middle East, is "rife with conservative misinformation." For instance, there's this reference to the invasion of Iraq:

"(t)he U.S. government believed that (Saddam) Hussein had been developing weapons of mass destruction that he planned to use against American and other targets."

That's it, period. No mention of the glaringly obvious point that no WMD's were ever found in Iraq and that the Bush administration entire rationale for war turned out to be a fallacy. Yet this slick classroom guide is supposed to help 16, 17, and 18-year-olds better understand American history? And there's this:

"President Bush has led the United States into Afghanistan and Iraq and reorganized the national government in an attempt to combat terrorist activity."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060907/cm_huffpost/028879

[AX10]

1. This level of colusion between the government and corporations...

is called fascism!

[MessiahRp]

2. What age group were these "teaching materials" targeted to?

Was it High Schoolers or Elementary School kids? I plan to call my son's elementary school on it, but if it's going to high schoolers I don't want to start a political fracas in a place that has nothing to do with this.

Rp

[Avalux]

4. I don't know - I called the superintendent of my district.

The woman in charge of curriculum at all schools. I told her I wasn't sure what grade level, but that since I have children in elementary school and high school, was quite concerned.

[K8-EEE]

6. High School -- BushCo Trolling For 18 y/o Votes?

SICK!

[Avalux]

11. Yep - that has to be it.

A lot of high school kids will vote in the next presidential election.

[Avalux]

3. Wow, just wow.

"President Bush has led the United States into Afghanistan and Iraq and reorganized the national government in an attempt to combat terrorist activity."

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[underpants]

7. Check this part out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2061864&mesg_id=2061864

The United States is a federal republic that is ruled by
representative democracy.The current president is
George W. Bush. Following the
terrorist attacks on September
11, the United States began a
global “War on Terror” to stop
terrorist groups and statesponsored
terrorism.As part of
the “War on Terror,” President
Bush has led the United States
into Afghanistan and Iraq and
reorganized the national
government in an attempt to
combat terrorist activity.

want to guess what picture is directly beside that text?




-----ALSO-------------


CLASSROOM DISCUSSION
AND DEBATE
THE PATH TO 9/11, PART 1
Debate It
Choose a side and debate as a class or in small groups.
1. On August 7, 1998, two U.S. embassies (Nairobi,Kenya,
and Dar es Salaam,Tanzania) are bombed in Africa,
killing 250 people, including 12 Americans, and injuring
4,000.The Clinton administration responds with
airstrikes against suspected bin Laden training camps
in Afghanistan and Sudan. In a press conference after
the bombings, President Clinton said,“We will use all
the means at our disposal to bring those responsible
to justice.”
Did the U.S. airstrikes help or hinder the U.S. stance on
the war on terror? How does Osama bin Laden appear
to the Muslim world after these bombings?
2. On December 14, 1999, a border guard at the
Canadian border questions a man of Middle Eastern
appearance about his Canadian residence. She asks the
man where in Canada he resides and for how long.
The man speaks with an accent and appears not to
understand.The guard repeats the question and the
man stammers that he has been a resident for six
years.When
asked for another
form of identification,
the
man shows the
guard his
Costco membership
card.
The guard asks
the man to pull
over for more
questioning.He
asks,“What is
wrong?” The
guard responds,
“Nothing, sir,
just pull over to
the side.” The guard explains to a colleague as they
walk toward the man’s car, “This guy is very uptight. I
want a thorough look-see.”
The guard asks the man to open his car trunk.The
man asks,“Why?” She responds,“Sir,U.S. Customs has
the right to search any vehicle entering the country.
Open the trunk…please.”A search of the trunk reveals
bomb-making materials. A follow-up investigation of
the man leads to the arrest of al Qaeda operatives in
New York on the eve of the millennium.
Do you think the event described above is a case of
racial profiling or a search based on evidence? Provide
examples from the miniseries to support your answer.
In the interest of protecting national security (as against
infringing on the rights of an individual) do you think
this kind of search should be allowed?




THE PATH TO 9/11, PART 2 THE PATH TO 9/11, PART 2
Critical-thinking Questions
1.What happened at the initial meeting between FBI
counterterrorism expert, John O’Neill, and the U.S.
Ambassador in Yemen? Why was the ambassador
unwilling to help O’Neill and his team?
2.What other political events in the news received
attention regarding counterterrorism during the
Clinton and Bush administrations?
3.Why didn’t the United States provide assistance to
General Massoud of the Northern Alliance to fight the
Taliban? Why did U.S. officials ignore General
Massoud’s warnings that bin Laden might strike?
4.What is the purpose of The 9/11 Commission Report?
5.What are your reactions to the 9/11 Commission’s
Report Card postscript at the end of the miniseries?
Debate It
Choose a side and debate as a class or in small groups.
1.The 9/11 Commission Report affords us hindsight.
Knowing what we know now, do you think the
attacks on 9/11 could have been prevented? Back up
your argument with examples from the miniseries or
The 9/11 Commission Report.
2. Does the media help or hinder our national security?
3. Is it possible to win the war on terror?

[rodeodance]

8. UPDATE: Scholastic has, for now, yanked its online teaching guideline

......Read more at Media Matters.

Say this about ABC, it is ambitious. Its efforts to mislead people about 9/11 extend beyond American households and reaches into high school classrooms nationwide.

UPDATE: Scholastic has, for now, yanked its online teaching guideline for "The Path to 9/11." But Think Progress reports Scholastic will have the material back up online this afternoon. No word if significant changes will be made to the text.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060907/cm_huffpost/028879

[helderheid]

10. WOOOOOOT!

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. "Hussein had been developing weapons of mass destruction"

Is a lie. This was the story that evolved after the invasion when no weapons were found. Simply replay
the 2003 SOTU address to see what the official reading on Saddam's weapons were supposed to be. According to jr chimp, Iraq was bursting at the seams with WMDs at that very moment.

[rodeodance]

9. I tuned into a RW talk radio show (Mike Gallager) and he was singing

the films praises a bit ago.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060907/cm_huffpost/028879
Eric Boehlert: Scholastic and ABC Team Up To Spread Misinformation About 9/11 To Students Nationwide

Eric Boehlert 2 hours, 1 minute ago

The cat calls surrounding ABC's "The Path to 9/11" continue to grow louder. Not only is the network under fire for legitimate questions about the veracity of the primetime mini-series, which apparently goes to significant lengths to pin the blame of 9/11 on the Clinton administration, but ABC itself has failed to answer questions about the dubious way it has arranged for conservative partisans to view the program prior to air date (which has allowed them to cheerlead the movie online and on talk radio), yet Democratic activists have been stiff-armed. My own numerous calls to ABC's publicist requesting a screening copy of "The Path to 9/11" have been ignored. Even former President
Bill Clinton's request for a DVD has gone unheeded by ABC.