Investigate arguments for and against Bush’s war on terrorism

As

commander-in-chief, the president retains the ability to commit troops

to action and maintain them in theater for up to 90 days without need

for Congressional authorization. After the terrorist attacks of

September 11, 2001, President Bush sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq

in support of the “war” on terror. This assignment will provide

students an opportunity to investigate the arguments in support and in

opposition to military involvement, evaluate Americans’ levels of

support for the conflicts, and describe the global impact of this

military intervention.

In this writing assignment, students will need to:

• Outline the president’s justification for military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, students should identify another government official who supported military intervention and their reasons for doing so.
• Identify two government officials who disagreed with military intervention and their reasons for opposition.
• Explain the impact of U.S. military intervention domestically. Questions that should be answered in addressing this section include: Did the American public support intervention? Did the level of support change over time? Did these opinions result in any electoral shifts?
• Describe the impact of U.S. military intervention on other countries. Did the U.S. receive international support for our military intervention? Why or why not? Did our military intervention lead to regime changes? Describe them. What has been the impact of those regime changes?

Paper requirements:

• Paper must be at least 3 pages and no more than 4 pages, double-spaced with 1 inch margins
• Font must be Times New Roman and 12 point
• Students must use MLA or APA format
• Students must have at least two peer-reviewed or scholarly journal articles, one for each argument they present with in-text citations and a works cited or references page at the end of the paper (the citation page is not included in the page minimum or maximum).

To complete this assessment satisfactorily, you will need to gather and assess information relevant to the Assessment Scenario and the questions listed within the scenario. Next, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. Synthesize means combining two or more pieces of information to form something greater more complex. For example, the U.S. invaded Iraq (information piece one) and the government of Saddam Hussein was overthrown (information piece two) which allowed a democratic government to be installed (synthesis.) The decision to invade Iraq (and Afghanistan) involved decisions by the President and his immediate advisors. Other decisions dealt with how to prosecute the war in each country, how to deal with enemy forces such as the Taliban, our response to fighting among factions (Sunni and Shia) in Iraq, etc. You will be required to evaluate U.S. choices and actions, and relate the consequences of these actions to Presidential decision-making (i.e., was there an alternative to invading Iraq? Why or why not? Should we have pulled out of Iraq when we did? Why or why not?) Finally, after reading the Assessment Scenario, was invasion the right thing to do? What was the impact of these wars on the international reputation of the U.S.? Did the wars in any way affect you, your family, or your community? If so, how? Once you have completed your research, you will develop, interpret, and express your research and ideas in an essay that should run about three-to-four, typed, double-spaced pages long. You will need to consult sources other than your textbook on this assignment because your textbook is not sufficient for you to gather enough information. When you have finished it, save it as a doc or docx file (not a pdf, wps, or pages file) and upload it in Canvas.

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