Erin+Fitzsimmons

Project Proposal with Rubric out of 100 points: A Series of Creative Nonfiction Newspaper Articles catalauging the major events of the Iraqi War: Past, Present: and Possible Future

Due at the End of Class on **4/22**: The complete template for the project

Due at the End of Class on **4/23**: Newspaper article about Sept. 11, 2001 and aftermath

Due at the End of Class on **4/24**: Newspaper article about the declaration of war and initial resistance **__&__** article on the capture of Sadam Hussein

Due at the End of Class on **4/27**: Revised copies of previous articles

Due at the End of Class on **4/28**: Article on the continuation of the war, public opinion, and 2008 election

Due at the End of Class on **4/29**: Article on the feelings after the conclusion of the war

Due at the End of Class on **4/30**: Article many years later, looking back

Presentations/Celebration will occur on **Friday, May 1**.

12 September 2001

Yesterday, the worst tragedy in the history of the United States of America occurred when four U.S. commercial flight airplanes were high-jacked by terrorists and used as tools of murder. One plane was directed to the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; another crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, most likely the result of the brave attempts of the passengers to retake the plane; and the remaining two were redirected and flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York.

At 8:46 AM onlookers gazed in horror, as American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower. At first, the tragedy was seen as a terrible accident, but as United Airlines Flight 175 followed the proceeding plane out of the sky and into the South Tower, it became painfully clear that our country was on the receiving end of a series of terrorist attacks. Before this historic moment, the thought that the United States might be vulnerable to faceless enemies was a distant, if nonexistent, worry to the average American. There had always been more important things to worry about—the health and wellbeing of family members and friends, taxes, even the national debt. But priorities all at once shifted as the impossible occurred when nineteen terrorists hijacked four planes carrying two hundred forty-six innocents and sent them careening into the sweet naivety of every American. Never again will an American be able to travel by plane without thinking of the lives snuffed out by nineteen ordinary-seeming passengers. Never again will a mother be able to send her children to school without a nagging doubt. Never again will young men and women be able to use public transportation without a fear for safety.

America is heading into a new age, but from the ashes of hate and ignorance, the people of America have come together like never before. If the terrorists thought to sow suspicion and fear into the American people, they failed; for around the country, people are joining hands and helping each other through this crisis. In New York the men and women of Fire Department of New York, (FDNY) the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Emergency Services Unit (ESU) all risked their lives in the struggle to evacuate the Twin Towers. The firefighters of New York were the most notable heroes of a day of many champions when they entered the dangerous, burning buildings to reach the trapped civilians inside. Unfortunately, in their valiant effort to save lives, some of those brave men and women died when the Twin Towers collapsed. New York and the United States of America will never forget these courageous people’s sacrifice.

Yesterday, the fatalities numbered at two-thousand nine-hundred seventy-four, between the four attacks.

20 March 2003

President Bush’s new policy of War on Terrorism officially started for many with the declaration of war on Iraq, well known for harboring the terrorist organization known as Al Queda, the organization that was discovered to be behind the September 11th attacks. After the unprovoked assaults, many Americans who lost friends and loved ones sought vindication, but had to make due with condolences. Now, almost two years later, the Bush Administration seems to have finally decided to act.

Iraq, the middle-eastern country between Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, has been a major issue for the United States since the Clinton Administration. Former President Bill Clinton made it a goal of his administration to bring reform to the country, and to remove its leader, Saddam Hussein, from a position to trample on the civil rights of his people. For years, reports of Hussein using biological weapons on his own people to insure his position have gone on with impunity. Clinton attempted to peacefully bring the monstrous actions to an end with the Iraq Liberation Act, but was unable to gain Saddam Hussein’s cooperation. Leaving the struggle, Clinton left a dark prognosis, that the longer Hussein stays in power, the more likely Hussein would develop weapons of mass destruction.

It seems that the Bush Administration has elected to take up Clinton’s fallen banner, as the attacks on September 11th brought about a new awareness of the dangers of the terrorist groups in the Middle East, and damage they are capable of wrecking. The biological weapons that Saddam Hussein has been known for using on his own people could fall in the hands of terrorists with the intent to attack United States citizens. All at once, what had once been Iraq’s problem has become America’s business as the weapons of mass destruction, predicted by Former President Clinton, could potentially be used on the United States.

And so, with America’s safety in mind, President Bush has dispatched soldiers to Iraq to find and destroy any and all weapons of mass destruction they discover. Hopefully, the activities in Iraq will make America a safer nation for its people.

Final Comments/Self-Evaluation: