Step 1: Introduction

Ask students if they know what the War Powers Act is. Before moving on, make sure everyone understands that the act says that only the U.S. Congress can declare war, though the president can legally deploy the military in emergency circumstances. Without providing answers, invite students to speculate about how individual members of Congress, and the voters who put them in office, decide whether it is advisable to go to war.

Then share one of these famous quotes:

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke

Or:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

Briefly discuss with students what the quote you chose means in the context of military strategy and war.

Step 2: Framing the Assignment

Explain that in this lesson you are going to ask each student, working individually, to create a list of three questions they would want their political representatives to ask before deciding whether or not to declare war. For historical background, instruct them to take a general look at one of America's most recent wars: the Iraq War. Be clear that this is not an investigation about whether the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq. Rather, their task is to examine aspects of the war, including the impact on civilians, in order to inform their thinking about what they would want to know before going to war--any war, anywhere--again.

Step 3: Film Clips
Show a map of Iraq and point out the location of Diyala province, noting its location relative to other places with which students might be familiar (e.g., Baghdad or Iran).

Explain that you are going to show clips from a documentary film called Nowhere to Hide. It is set in Diyala province in the years immediately following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011 and features an Iraqi nurse named Nori Sharif.

Show the three clips, pausing briefly after each to invite students to share what they noticed. Be sure that they note the changes over time and the plight of civilians who play no direct part in the ongoing conflicts.

Step 4: The Assignment
Give students a two-part assignment:

Part 1: Research these three terms: preemptive war, nation building, pacifism.

For each term, write two paragraphs based on the following:

1. What does the term mean and how was it applied to the decision-making behind the war in Iraq?
2. I favor/oppose this approach because...

You might also add this option: A third paragraph comparing how the term is used/described by news sources, reference sources and/or partisan websites.

Part 2: List three questions you would want a president or congressperson to ask before going to war and the answers they should need in order to authorize an invasion.

You might also assign this option: In a sentence or two, explain why you think each question is important.

Let students know what, if anything, they must turn in to you for assessment purposes.

Step 5: Sharing Questions
In a second class, have students share and discuss the questions they wrote. Do common themes emerge? Now that they've heard options posed by others, are there questions they would add to their original three, or questions they would delete from their lists? Which questions seem most important to them and why?

As time allows, ask students if they have seen any evidence that their questions were asked before the start of any of the wars they have studied.

End the lesson by inviting students to share their final list of questions with their members of Congress.