Overview: U.S. officials said on Tuesday that an attack earlier this week in a neighborhood of Baghdad was intended as a direct strike on Iraqi leadership. U.S. intelligence indicated on Monday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons might have been in a compound in the capital's Mansour neighborhood. 45 minutes later, U.S. bombs slammed into the building. U.S. troops do not yet have access to the neighborhood where the strike took place. Therefore, coalition officials are uncertain as to when they will know whether high-ranking Iraqi officials were killed in the blast.

After students read "U.S. bomber aims for Saddam" present the following questions:

• CNN.com: Special Report: War in Iraq  • CNNstudentnews.com: Teacher Resources: War in Iraq  • Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Operation Iraqi Freedom

1. What are the latest developments regarding the war in Iraq? What was the mission of the B-1 bomber crew featured in the segment? According to Lt. Col. Fred Swan, how did the flight crew feel about bombing a priority target? What skills and training did the crew draw upon to carry out their mission? What weapons were used during the mission? What challenges did the crew face during their flight? What was the outcome of the mission?

2. Divide your class into two groups to debate whether or not the death of President Saddam Hussein would end the war in Iraq. Have groups research the following information to prepare for their debate:

1. the structure and function of the Iraqi government
2. Saddam's role in Iraq and the international community
3. the political and military objectives of the war from the perspectives of the allied coalition and Iraq

Following the debate, facilitate a class discussion about what needs to happen for the war in Iraq to end.

Teachers: To access a rubric for evaluating student debates, visit Holt, Rinehart and Winston (http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/RUBRIC10.pdf). A .pdf viewer is necessary to view this.