Some Questions To Answer in POLS 401

1. What do Iraqi citizens think about (a) Saddam, (b) The war, (c) Americans, (d) What the war has been about, (e) the abu Graib scandal, and (f) What is at stake, what they lost?

2. According to international law, was the war legal? Was it just?

3. Berman argued that the War On Terror should be thought of as a war of ideas. How would one conduct a war on idea's/ideologies?

4. What connections are there between the movement opposing the war in Vietnam and the movement opposing the war in Iraq?

5. Why did the US go back to the UN a second time in the period leading up to the War in Iraq? Did the US have too much or too little regard for the UN and its role in conflict resolution?

6. OK, what was the role of oil in the decision to go to war with Iraq?

7. What was the role of religion in the US decision to go to war, in the conduct of the war, and in the events that have unfolded in Iraq?

8. Now that Congress is controlled by Democrats, how will policy toward Iraq change? Why?

9. What has happened to the physical lives of Iraqis? Include everything from children going to school to electricity to income, and so on.

10. What have developments in the war done to the neo-conservative movement?

11. How do other countries media cover the war? How does it compare with US media coverage? Do non-US media outlets carry much propaganda?

12. What were the effects of “embedding” reporters in military units? What were its effects on what we saw? What are government policies towards embeds products? How does embeddedness affect objectivity?

13. So far, has the development of Iraq’s postwar government been favorable to the U.S.?

14. How is Iraq doing in the development of the rule of law? Pay particular attention to its courts.

15. Will Iraq remain unified? (What is unity? What is an Iraqi?)

16. Describe the Iraqi exiles’ role in war decisions.

17. What became of the Powell Doctrine? Compare to the “Revolution of military affairs” debate.

18. Did Bush lie in order to get us into the war?

19. Were there credible policy alternatives besides a war in Iraq?

20. How has the experience of war affected our soldiers? How do we handle the return of soldiers to life in the USA after service in Iraq or Afghanistan?

21. What are the divisions among Iraqis? How have these contributed to policy difficulties there?

22. What people and resources have been sent to Iraq run and rebuild it? What were the criteria used to make decisions about who to send, and how to spend money?

23. Assuming our goals include leaving Iraq and contributing toward it becoming a good place for Iraqis, what are the chances we can do that? Are there credible answers to this?

24. The President, on January 10, 2007, announced his intention to increase the number of soldiers in Iraq. What compelled him to do this? Were there earlier compelling reasons to increase the number of soldiers there? If so, why were they not heeded?

25. What has President Bush thought about the reasons for going to war, and in the conduct of the war and related issues? Is there evidence of ulterior motives on the part of elites in the decision to go to war? What will historians think of him?

26. What is the relationship between the situation in Iraq and our alliances in the Middle East?

27. Will the US reinstitute the draft?