Baghdad schools banning discussion of Saddam Hussein & George W. Bush

[sabra]

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5184PK20090209

Saddam and Bush are taboo as Iraq schools recover

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - For Baghdad schools, Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush and the sectarian slaughter unleashed after U.S. troops invaded six years ago are non-issues, banned from books and their discussion taboo.

After years of dodging bullets and bombs to get to school, Iraqi teachers face new challenges as the violence ebbs, such as students traumatized by war, and finding a way to explain Iraq's tragic past without reopening old wounds and risking its future.

...

Years of violence have traumatized Iraq's children. Many have been made orphans, or their mothers made widows. Huge numbers have been made refugees, both inside and outside Iraq.

Among children that stayed put, many spent years cooped up at home, giving them little means to expend pent-up energy and learn to socialize with other children, Abdul-Karim said.

"And children who might have played football in the past are now bringing in toy guns, or knives, or even razor blades ... A child copies those who are older than them," she added.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Wow, they are more efficient then right wing radio

which spends several hours a week rewriting history (Reagan, FDR, Clinton.) The Baghdad school system just bans history. cheney would be proud.

[Cleita]

2. Sigh! Somehow eliminating the truth doesn't seem to right the wrong to me.

I resented being taught revisionist American history in school, finding out later that the real history was very different and far more interesting than what we were indoctrinated in. I don't think changing history is going to change the psychological damage to those children, which is what they should be targeting.