Zinn Education Project: Exposing the Rhetoric of War

Our hearts go out to the schoolchildren, teachers, families, and all those whose lives are being torn apart by the illegal and immoral war launched by the United States and Israel against the people of Iran. History teaches that the U.S. government cares nothing about democracy and human rights in the Middle East.

To help young people understand these events in context, teach about the 1953 U.S.- and Britain-orchestrated coup d’etat that toppled Iran’s democratically elected government. The Shah then took power and signed over 40 percent of Iran’s oil fields to U.S. companies.

Textbooks either ignore or minimize the impact of this history of imperialism, as high school teacher Ursula Wolfe-Rocca wrote in a critique:

American Journey says the CIA “backed” a coup in Iran; in reality that “backing” involved Kermit Roosevelt, CIA agent and grandson of Theodore, arriving in Tehran with suitcases full of cash to manufacture an opposition movement by hiring people to protest, bribing newspaper editors to print misinformation (real fake news), and creating a sham communist party to act as a straw man. American Journey says the Shah “cooperated” with the United States; it leaves out that such “cooperation” was defined by Iran’s purchase of billions of dollars of weapons from the United States as well as the CIA’s training of Savak, the Shah’s secret police force infamous for its human rights violations. Continue reading.

The same disinformation is perpetuated by politicians and corporate media today. For accurate news coverage, we recommend Democracy Now! Many of the interviews work well in the classroom.

For lessons on media literacy, find student-friendly articles at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Norman Solomon’s book War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine and interviews offer clear analysis.>> See all resources 

• Teaching Activities (Free) Whose “Terrorism”?
• Teaching Guides Teaching About the Wars
• Teaching Guides Challenge Islamophobia
• Disguising Imperialism: How Textbooks Get the Cold War Wrong and Dupe Students
• Digital Collections The Costs of War

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.