Determine challenges facing Iraq's interim administrator

Overview: With the smoke clearing over Baghdad, coalition officials are taking steps to implement a solid government in Iraq. One of the first tasks before them is reorganizing the country's civil sector. That job rests on the shoulders of retired U.S. Army Gen. Jay Garner, who arrived in Baghdad on Monday.

After students read "Garner tackles task of stabilizing Iraq" present the following:

RESOURCES • CNN.com: Garner seeks to reprise his success  • CNN.com: Special: The New Iraq  • CNN.com: Special: War in Iraq  • CNN.com: Garner faces big challenges

1. Who is General Jay Garner? What is his role in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq? What problems does the staff of the hospital he visited face? What is Gen. Garner's impression of the Iraqi doctors, hospital staff and engineers he met? What does he say they need in order to do their jobs?

2. Summarize the complaints voiced by some of the hospital staff about the U.S. presence in Iraq. In the story, one staffer said, "How come they only protected the oil ministry facilities?" How might you respond to her question? Why are hundreds of Iraqis lining up, filling out forms and being bussed to one of the former presidential palaces? Why are some other Iraqis protesting in the streets of Baghdad? Based on this story, how would you characterize the role the U.S. is playing in postwar Iraq? To what extent do you think the U.S. should participate in reconstructing Iraq? Explain.

3. Have student groups go to the links provided and other resources to learn more about the rebuilding of Iraq after the war. Pose the following questions to guide the groups' research:

• What are the problems and challenges Iraqis face after the fall of their government and the destruction of many facilities in the country?

• What are the positions of various parties, (e.g. the U.S., other countries, various Iraqi spokespeople) regarding the U.S./coalition presence in post-war Iraq?

• What challenges does Gen. Garner face in his role as "interim transitional civil administrator" of Iraq?

Have groups present their findings to the class. Next, challenge each student to use the information he or she learned to create a job description in the form of a classified ad for the position of "interim transitional civil administrator" of Iraq. Ask students: What are the responsibilities of the job? What qualities do you think the applicants for this job must possess? Have volunteers share their classified ads and discuss.

Teachers: This activity requires students to draw conclusions from gathered information and to represent those conclusions in a job description. For a rubric to evaluate a student's ability to draw conclusions, visit Holt, Rinehart and Winston's "Drawing Conclusions" Rubric (http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/RUBRIC12.pdf - A viewer capable of displaying .pdf files is necessary).