DDoommiinniiccaann SScchhoollaarr Graduate Master's Theses, Capstones, Student Scholarship and Culminating Projects 8-2013 FFrroomm AAffgghhaanniissttaann 11997799 ttoo AAffgghhaanniissttaann 22000011:: HHooww TThhrreeee CCuurrrreenntt HHiigghh SScchhooooll HHiissttoorryy TTeexxttbbooookkss FFrraammee tthhee OOrriiggiinnss ooff tthhee ““WWaarr oonn TTeerrrroorr”” HHiissttoorriiccaall AAnnaallyyssiiss aanndd IInntteerrvviieewwss wwiitthh WWiilllliiaamm BBlluumm,, NNooaamm CChhoommsskkyy aanndd JJaammeess LLooeewweenn Michael Shawn Galli Dominican University of California https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2013.edu.20 Survey: Let us know how this paper benefits you. Recommended Citation Galli, Michael Shawn, "From Afghanistan 1979 to Afghanistan 2001: How Three Current High School History Textbooks Frame the Origins of the “War on Terror” Historical Analysis and Interviews with William Blum, Noam Chomsky and James Loewen" (2013). Graduate Master's Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects. 29. https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2013.edu.20 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Dominican Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Master's Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects by an authorized administrator of Dominican Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Afghanistan to Afghanistan 1 Title Page From Afghanistan 1979 to Afghanistan 2001: How Three Current High School History Textbooks Frame the Origins of the “War on Terror” Historical Analysis and Interviews with William Blum, Noam Chomsky and James Loewen Michael Galli Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Masters of Science of Education School of Education and Counseling Psychology Dominican University of California San Rafael, CA August 2013 Afghanistan to Afghanistan 2 Signature Page This thesis, written under the direction of the candidate’s thesis advisor and approved by the Chair of the Master’s program, has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. The content and research are the work of the candidate alone. Michael Galli August 30, 2013 Candidate Madalienne F. Peters, Ed.D. August 30, 2013 Thesis Advisor Elizabeth Truesdell, Ph.D. August 30, 2013 Program Chair Afghanistan to Afghanistan 3 Copyright 2013-by Michael Galli All rights reserved. Afghanistan to Afghanistan 4 Acknowledgements My sincere appreciation goes out to Professor Madalienne Peters for her unwavering encouragement and guidance. Her hours of instruction and advice have been invaluable. I would also like to thank Dr. Lisa Ray Kelly who I found upon emerging from the Gates of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and who thoughtfully guided my first steps. A special thanks also goes out to William Blum, James Loewen, and Noam Chomsky for taking the time to speak with me about this work, and to Suzanne Roybal, Academic Librarian at Dominican University, for her careful and thoughtful review of my citations and references. To my wife Satomi and my son Taiyo, thank you for your love and support. Afghanistan to Afghanistan 5 Table of Contents TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................................................1 SIGNATURE PAGE ...............................................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................5 ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................9 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ....................................................................................................................... 12 PURPOSE ................................................................................................................................................... 13 THEORETICAL RATIONALE ............................................................................................................................. 13 ASSUMPTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 15 BACKGROUND AND NEED ............................................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................................................................... 18 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 18 MASTERS OF HISTORY: HIGH SCHOOL AMERICAN HISTORY TEXTBOOKS AND THE VIETNAM WAR, 1975-2005 BY SEAN T. GUNN .................................................................................................................................................... 18 TEACHING ABOUT WAR IN A TIME OF WAR BY PAUL ATWOOD ........................................................................... 20 WRITING 9/11 MEMORY: AMERICAN JOURNALISTS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS AS COMPLICIT PARTNERS IN 9/11 POLITICAL APPROPRIATION BY PATRICIA LEAVY ................................................................................................ 21 WHAT HAPPENED ON 9/11? NINE YEARS OF POLLING COLLEGE UNDERGRADUATES: "IT WAS ALWAYS JUST A FACT THAT IT HAPPENED" BY LINDA ALKANA ................................................................................................................... 21 9/11 IN THE CURRICULUM: A RETROSPECTIVE BY DIANA HESS AND JEREMY STODDARD ......................................... 22 UNBURYING PATRIOTISM: CRITICAL LESSONS IN CIVICS AND LEADERSHIP TEN YEARS LATER BY AZADEH OSANLOO ...... 22 Afghanistan to Afghanistan 6 THE REPORTING OF THE SEPTEMBER 11TH TERRORIST ATTACKS IN AMERICAN SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS: A MUSLIM PERSPECTIVE BY MOHAMMED SALEEM AND MICHAEL THOMAS .......................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 3 METHOD ........................................................................................................................ 25 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 25 LITERATURE REVIEW, TEXT ANALYSIS, HISTORICAL ANALYSIS, INTERVIEWS ............................................................ 25 DATA COLLECTION....................................................................................................................................... 25 ETHICAL STANDARDS ................................................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................... 27 INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM BLUM .................................................................................................................. 27 INTERVIEW WITH JAMES LOEWEN .................................................................................................................. 33 INTERVIEW WITH NOAM CHOMSKY ................................................................................................................ 42 TEXT ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................... 57 Number of Words McGraw, Prentice, and Holt Dedicate to Examining the Origins for the “War on Terror” ................................................................................................................................................ 57 DECLARING WAR ON AN ABSTRACT NOUN ...................................................................................................... 58 THE FIRST “WAR ON TERROR” ...................................................................................................................... 61 DEFINING THE PROBLEM .............................................................................................................................. 66 SETTING THE STAGE ..................................................................................................................................... 67 THE INSULT ................................................................................................................................................ 74 BABIES THEN BOMBS ................................................................................................................................... 87 THE FATWA ................................................................................................................................................ 90 FATWA CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................ 92 THE U.S. STARTS A WAR .............................................................................................................................. 94 Afghanistan to Afghanistan 7 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 102 MAJOR FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................................... 102 War on Terror ................................................................................................................................... 102 Bush Doctrine, Mujahideen, Regan Administration ......................................................................... 102 Afghanistan ...................................................................................................................................... 103 U.S. Support for Saddam Hussein ..................................................................................................... 103 COMPARISON OF MAJOR FINDINGS TO PREVIOUS RESEARCH ............................................................................ 104 LIMITATIONS/GAPS IN THE STUDY ................................................................................................................ 105 OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................................... 105 ABOUT THE AUTHOR.................................................................................................................................. 106 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 107 Afghanistan to Afghanistan 8 Abstract This work examines how three current eleventh grade U.S. high school history textbooks report on the origins of the “war on terror.” The researcher chose one textbook from each of the three leading publishing houses that supply the high school market: Holt McDougal, Prentice Hall, and McGraw-Hill. The scope of the researcher’s inquiry covers the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the U.S. invasion in 2001. The nomenclature of the “war on terror,” Reagan’s “war on terror,” U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen, the Persian Gulf War, and the decision to invade Afghanistan are examined. Interviews with authors William Blum, James Loewen, and Noam Chomsky are also reported. Findings indicate factual errors regarding historical events, as well as numerous omissions of historical context. Such errors and omissions may lead the high school reader to form inaccurate conclusions regarding current U.S. foreign policy regarding terrorism. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the instructor to devote considerable research to this topic so to supplement the inadequacies of the textbook. Afghanistan to Afghanistan 9 Chapter 1 Introduction September eleventh marks the date of an extraordinary event, one which would expose deceit and betrayal, the magnitude of which would lead to the longest war in America’s two hundred and twenty-three year history. The event was not the thundering collapse in 2001 of the World Trade Center in New York, but the 1990 whir and click of a satellite camera a hundred miles above the sands of Saudi Arabia. Michael Galli July 11, 2013 On August 6, 1990, U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney met with the king of Saudi Arabia to discuss secret U.S. government satellite photos which purported to show a build-up of Iraqi troops on the Saudi’s western border with Kuwait. The Iraqis had invaded Kuwait on August 2, and King Fahd was told they were now preparing an assault on his homeland. If the Saudi government did not allow U.S. troops into his kingdom soon, Fahd was told, an impeding Iraqi invasion could not be stopped. The King consented, but only on the condition that the Americans would leave after the threat was neutralized (PBS, 1996, Oral History: Richard Cheney; Woodward, 1991, p. 270-271). A month after Cheney’s visit, one hundred thousand American troops were camped in the Saudi desert ready to repel the quarter of a million troops and 1,500 tanks the Pentagon claimed that the Iraqis had now amassed on the Saudi border (Heller, 1991). If the Iraqis had wanted to invade Saudi Arabia, why had they not rolled over the border a month earlier when they would have been virtually unopposed? General Schwarzkopf, U.S. commander of the troops in the Persian Gulf, had made the same inquiry to Chairman