War Crimes- World War II and Today

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War Crimes- World Wa= r II and Today

Introduction= |Task

Introducti= on

By its = very nature war is violence. How c= an soldiers and military officers be charged with a crime in the midst of war? War is full of horrible = events and death. World War II force= d the world to decide what behaviors are acceptable during times of war and what behaviors are outside the bounds of acceptability. We will look at war crimes in WWII= , both in the European Arena and in the Pacific Arena. We will then look at war crimes in= the Iraq War. Finally, we will st= udy the attempt to prevent and/or punish future war atrocities with the Geneva Convention and the United Nations.

Task

Our cla= ss will be divided into five teams:

· Team One will investiga= te war crimes in the European Arena during WWII.<= /b>

·        Team Two will investig= ate war crimes in the Pacific Arena during WWII.

·        Team Three will investig= ate allegations of war crimes against U.S. Troops in the current war in Iraq.

·        Team Four will research= the Nuremburg Trials.

·        Team Five will research= the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.

·        Team Six will research= the history and use of the Geneva Convention.&= nbsp;

·        Team Seven will research= the history and current function of the United Nations.

Process

1. Define “War Crime.”

2. Your team will research your assig= ned topic to gather information. This research can be done via the Internet, printed materials in the school library, or materials accessed at= Ela Library. You need to cite your sourc= es, so be sure to write down any resources you use.

3. Once you have gathered all the bas= ic facts about your topic, you need to organize those facts. The easiest organization system is who, what, = where, why, and how. Be sure you= can answer all of these questions.

4. Discuss the moral implications of the crimes.&= nbsp; Remember that war is a chaotic, confusing time where moral decisions= are very ambiguous. Record the op= inion of each team member and submit this opinion with your final report.

5. Create and present a final report. This can be in the form of a newspaper article describing the event, performed as a television newscast, as a formal report submitted to an investigation team, as a debate on the moral implications of charging a soldier with a war crime, or as a Publ= ic Awareness Poster for the school hallway.

Resources<= /span>

http://www.crimesofwar.org/

http://www.holocaust-history.org/

= http://www.redcross.lv/en/conventions.htm

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timelin= e.html

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/nurem.ht= m

http://library.thinkquest.org/12663/<= o:p>

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pan= deAMEX101.html

http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/humanrights/bibliograp= hies/warcrimes.japan.html

http://www.un.org/english/=

http://deoxy.org/wc/wc-index.htm

Conclusion=

Most people agree that war has a devastating impact on the community in which it is fought, on the civilians= who witness it and must live through the experience, and on the men and women w= ho are in the military and fight the war.&nbs= p; However, people are responsible for conducting a war in as humane a manner as possible. In the he= ight of battle tension, it is a difficult principle to enforce and all countries have violated the principle of humane treatment for all people in times of = war, including the United= States.

Extension<= /span>

Change the point of view on your project from an American perspective to the perspective of the other side.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> For example, if your team had a ne= wscast on the war crimes that occurred in Nanking by the Japanese military, produce another newscast that would have aired in Japan and been told from the Japa= nese persective.

Evaluation=

A rubric will be provided on your second day of the project.