The soldiers are fighting for our freedom.

I teach a lit class & right now we're discussing some texts from Vietnam & other wars. At times the conversation turns to the parallels in Iraq and while I try to keep my politics out of class, I encourage debate because I think a lot of the students just don't know the truth about the war. For instance, one student said we were fighting Iraq because of 9/11 and thankfully another student debunked that.

My problem is that students will often say that the soldiers are fighting for "our freedom" or "our rights" over in Iraq. I don't personally believe that to be true, but does anyone have any ideas as to how I could respond to that assertion without coming across as biased?

Why is it they think that they are fighting for 'our freedom'.
What are they doing in Iraq that has to do with our freedom here?
Were we not free before we went into Iraq?
Are the Iraqi people now free??
What freedoms will we lose if we left Iraq tomorrow?

Make them think instead of just spouting buzz phrases they heard from Faux News or their Repug parents.

A good series of follow ups will lead any brainwashed young wingnut into a morass of contradictions or equivocations.

I just don't want to come across as hostile to assertions like that, but I do want to encourage discussion. I think the questions you suggested would accomplish that--thank you!

knew better and thankfully corrected them. When it comes to pinning the facts down, I will jump in if someone is off base, but as far as the "freedom" issue is concerned, I feel I might come across as too heavy-handed if I dispute that idea myself (and other students have yet to jump in on that one).

I don't understand why most of them believe our troops are fighting for OUR freedom in Iraq. I have no answers for that.

Ask them to further define the statement. How does occupying Iraq protect America? Truth be told, we are fighting for Halliburton, GE and Lockheeds freedom and rights. Not for any individuals........

to counter a student with my own views. I just want to subtly encourage them to think for themselves without betraying my own bias one way or the other.

How is the military fighting for "our freedoms" and "our rights"?

Require them to back it up with research, document their theory.

I'll have to make sure I go through a source credibility lesson first though!

of Iraq. The war has long since been fought& "won".

include our freedoms and our rights. The issue is that the invasion and occupation of Iraq had nothing to do with defending America.

every day. Maybe you could do a column A and column B. And that's not just things the administration attributes to "protecting us from terrorists", but the list gets longer and longer, til we start not noticing.

...their rights in America. Ask them to name any right of citizenship in America and describe how it might have been threatened by Iraqis had we not killed so many of them.

I'm a biology prof so I don't ever get an opportunity to explore these kinds of issues in the classroom, but more and more I've come to the conclusion that challenging students assumptions is vital to helping them understand themselves and their relation to the world around them. It's not imposing your politics on the discussion-- you bring a viewpoint to the classroom that students legitimately deserve to be exposed to. Expressing your politics, if done well, provides them with insights into your thinking, and that's the most valuable lesson you can offer them. They can learn most of the content we teach them from books and other sources-- what they really gain from their professors is insight into an intellectual life. Don't deny them that in the misplaced interests of "fairness." We learn the most important lessons by challenging ourselves, by correcting our mistakes, and by example.

I can just see the kid going home and his dad coming all unglued at any suggestion that we're not fighting for freedom.

I wish I could offer suggestions, that's a tough one.

& there's been a lot of buzz about "liberal professors" lately, so that's the type of situation I fear. However, I feel it's necessary to debate these topics when the opportunity arises--particularly in a class where I'm trying to teach them to defend their opinions

Or point out that there are many who hold other opinions. I do like your idea of encouraging them to speak out, either way.

So many bravely enlisted after 9/11, unlike the people who sent them into this war.

I teach lit, myself. When I'm in a tight position...I stick with facts. Facts can in NO WAY be construed as political "leanings".

I try to stick to the facts as well or play devil's advocate to each side just to encourage debate, but I'm afraid any questioning of the brave soldiers "defending freedom" could come across as hostile--yet the idea is not fundamentally bourne out by the facts so I want to pursue it. Argh!

were ever infringed upon by a sovereign nation then wouldn't we have noticed it. Meanwhile habeus corpus, the Geneva Conventions, our 1st and 4th amendments have been decimated, but we aren't supposed to notice.

"Those who sacrifice Liberty for Security will get neither." paraphrased from Ben Franklin.

Oh and two GI's were found to be beheaded today but nevermind.
/sarcasm.

In a war, the soldier's universe shrinks.. Their reality is the few feet in front of them, the few feet behind them, and their buddies with them.. They try to carry out the orders they are given, with the least possibility of getting killed/hurt..they return to "base" and do it all again the next day..

Someone called it moments of sheer terror, surrounded by hours of dreadful boredom (paraphrasing)

between the students. They had to chose a side concerning the police action in Iraq.
My son took the con side. They had to have talking points to argue their side.
He came home thrilled that he got to express 'his' views. He said he corrected some other kids 'with the facts'! ;)
They did one on the pro's and con's of being republican or democrat also!

I was soooo proud!! :)

Have the class read some Locke or Hobbes -- freedom is an inalienable, human right. No one can charge for it. No one can provide it to anyone else.

AND GOVERNMENT CANNOT BESTOW LIBERTY, ONLY TAKE IT AWAY.

Jesusfuckingchrist, why is this so hard?