Memory of the Camps

Assignment #12 – The Cold War

Step 1: Watch – “Why We Fight” online Step 2: Read – “Watching Big Brother” from Lies My

Teacher Told Me Step 3: Complete the Discussion Board

Discussion Prompt:

What have you learned from the film Why We Fight? I hope you learned that Saddam Hussein was once a CIA asset– a friend of ours. The film does not mention this, but did you know that our CIA also trained Osama Bin Laden? These are interesting little tidbits of information aren’t they? But what do they illustrate for us about our country’s dealings in the Middle East? Did you have any idea that we had orchestrated the oustings of so many foreign leaders? That we had a hand in assassinating so many foreign leaders? Why would we do this? The Cold War only sees a heightening of all that began during the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War. We begin going into country after country…and for what purpose?

Why We Fight suggests it has much to do with the growing military- industrial complex that President Eisenhower tried to warn us against or else they would begin to affect our nation in ways we could not imagine–as Eisenhower suggests, politically, economically, even spiritually. What do you think he meant by this? This might begin to help us understand why we are spending so much money today to win the current war we find ourselves in. What are your thoughts about what you’ve read and about the information found in the film? What other thoughts do you have after readings Loewen’s chapter, “Watching Big Brother?”