Rewriting Iraq Invasion History

CAIRO — As the world prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the US and British invasion of Iraq, the British Ministry of Defense has released an imbalanced and erroneous guide about the war for school pupils, whipping a storm of criticism from the country's biggest teachers' union, the Independent reported Friday, March 14.

"When you are dealing with something as controversial as Iraq and different events which led up to the invasion, teachers are under an enormous duty to present material which is balanced," Steve Sinnott, the secretary general of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said in a letter to Schools Secretary Ed Balls.

The MoD has provided schools with a guide about the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq to be taught during classroom discussions in general studies or personal, social and health education (PSE) lessons.

In the "Teacher Notes" section, it says the invasion was necessary to remove the Saddam Hussein regime and bring democracy to Iraq.

It again did not mention that the US, staunchly backed by Britain, waged its war without a United Nations authorization.

The guide says Iraq was invaded because of its refusal to abandon its weapons of mass destruction.

It did not mention the fact that the alleged weapons arsenal were never found after the invasion and turned out to be a false allegation.

The MoD guide further stopped short of referring to civilian casualties of the war.

According to the independent Iraq Body Count, up to 89,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since 2003.

Research conducted by other polling groups, however, puts the death toll at a staggering one million people.

The guide describes the role of the British forces in Iraq as mainly targeted at "helping the Iraqis to rebuild their country after the conflict and years of neglect."

But the guide never mentions that five years after the "liberation" of Iraq, the capital Baghdad still has little electricity, no clean water amid numerous reports about fumbled reconstruction programs.

In distributing such a guide, Sinnott says, the MoD is breaching the 1996 Education Act, which aims to ensure all political issues are treated in a balanced way.

Unethical Recruitment

Sinnott also accused the MoD of "unethically" seeking to recruit pupils through the guide.

"On their recruitment material, it tells what an exotic lifestyle this can be, but it doesn't mention that being in the military involves killing people," he said.

"These things don't feature as they should in a proper, balanced view of what it is like being in the armed forces."

A motion to be discussed at the NUT annual conference next week would, if passed, commit the union to "actively opposing military recruitment activities in schools across England and Wales."

The Educational Institute of Scotland has already opposed military recruitment in Scottish academic establishments.

A January report by Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust accused the MoD of glamorizing war to recruit young people into the army and targeting children as young as seven.

Sinnott said the MoD's guide is nothing but propaganda.

The NUT furor is " an attack on practices that we cannot condone in schools. It is a question of whether you present fair and balanced views or put forward prejudice and propaganda to youngsters," he said.

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