CAMPAIGN NEWS

DIGEST
SEPTEMBER 2004
Continuing Resistance in Najaf undermine already strained relations with long-time
NATO allies.’
FIGHTING CONTINUES between U.S. forces and
members of the Mahdi Army, controlled by radical
Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in the Iraqi city of Maoist Rebels Blockade Nepal
Najaf. U.S. Marines have reported killing hundreds Capital
of the Mahdi fighters, some of who took refuge in MAOIST REBELS blockaded Kathmandu, the capital
the sacred Imam Ali shrine. The U.S. has of Nepal, for a week last month, demanding that the
surrounded the shrine with tanks and troops, but has government release Maoist prisoners and provide
been reluctant to attack it directly for fear of information on other detainees. The rebels did not
angering Iraq’s majority Shi’ite population. place barricades around the city, but threatened to
Al-Sadr has said he will turn over the shrine to attack anyone trying to enter or leave. There were
Iraq’s popular Shi’ite leader, the Grand Ayatullah several bombings in Kathmandu, and officials
Ali Husaini Sistani, though at the time of writing reported that two men shot and killed a police
Mahdi forces still control it. But many of the officer on the outskirts of the city. The government
fighters have already left, taking weapons with offered to restart peace talks, and to investigate
them, and the number inside has fallen from around what happened to some Maoist detainees reported
2,000 to only a few hundred. The future of the missing, but it has not agreed to other demands.
shrine, and of al-Sadr’s resistance, is uncertain. Nevertheless the rebels, at repeated requests from
In related news, the NATO Training the civilian population and from human rights
Implementation Mission in Iraq (NTIM-I) has groups, decided to postpone their blockade for one
begun deployment. Comprising about 50 officers month. But they have threatened stronger measures
and NCO’s from various NATO countries, NTIM-I if their demands are ignored.
is led by Major General Carel Hilderink of the
Netherlands. Its goal is to help train Iraqi security France Celebrates 60th
forces so that ‘Iraq can better provide for its own
peace and security.’ Anniversary of Liberation
LAST MONTH France celebrated the World War II
U.S. to Withdraw 60,000 Troops liberation of Paris from Nazi forces 60 years ago.
Worldwide On August 25, 1944, German commander General
PRESIDENT BUSH has announced that the U.S. will Dietrich von Choltitz signed a formal surrender,
withdraw at least 60,000 troops in the next ten and Charles de Gaulle made his famous speech that
years from bases around the world, in what the New Paris, after 50 months of Nazi occupation, was
York Times has called ‘the biggest realignment of finally free.
the United States military since the end of the cold A popular uprising in Paris led by the French
war.’ Bush said the changes, which will primarily Resistance helped to avoid a full-scale battle for the
affect bases in Europe and Asia, will better address city. About 1,500 Parisians died in the uprising,
terrorist threats. The Pentagon has already begun to which drove some 20,000 German troops into a few
move about 12,000 troops from South Korea to fortified areas that allied forces could focus on.
Iraq. About 3,200 German troops total were killed in the
U.S. Democrats have said the new policy is fighting. The day was celebrated with an official
motivated by election-year politics, and is a bad ceremony and a ball on the Place de la Bastille.
idea. General Wesley Clark, NATO supreme allied McGeary, Johanna; ‘The Lessons of Najaf;’ Time; August 22,
commander during the Kosovo campaign of 1999 2004.
and a former Democratic presidential candidate, ‘The NATO Training Implementation Mission Arrives in Iraq;’
NATO Press Release; August 19, 2004.
said, ‘Withdrawing forces from Europe will further
Bumiller, Elisabeth; ‘Bush Tells Veterans of Plan to Redeploy
G.I.’s Worldwide;’ New York Times; August 17, 2004.
This page has been downloaded from www.campaignmilitaryenglish.com.
It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages.
Copyright  Macmillan Publishers Limited 2004.
 CAMPAIGN NEWS
DIGEST

This page has been downloaded from www.campaignmilitaryenglish.com.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages.
Copyright  Macmillan Publishers Limited 2004.
 CAMPAIGN NEWS
DIGEST
SEPTEMBER 2004
Student Worksheet
Task 1: pre-reading vocabulary
Before reading the articles, match the underlined words in the first column with their closest synonyms in the
second column.
1. shrine a) deny access
2. deployment b) revolt
3. realignmentc) border, fringes
4. undermine d) change of position or arrangement
5. blockade e) holy place
6. outskirts f) destabilize, weaken
7. uprising g) complete, total
8. full-scale h) positioning or placement (especially of troops)

Task 2: read and check

As you read the articles, check your answers from Task 1.

Task 3: sentence writing

Use the vocabulary from Task 1, and write separate sentences using each underlined word.

Task 4: finding information

Each of the stories above answers what journalists call the six classic questions, the ‘five Ws and an H’: who,
what, where, when, why, and how. Find the five Ws and an H in each story.

Task 5: writing about news

Have the situations in Iraq and Nepal changed since this news digest was written? Investigate one of the
stories and write a brief update; no more than 200 words. Include the five Ws and an H. Study how
information is presented in the articles and try to imitate the concise journalistic style.

Task 6: briefing
Consider the political, military, and economic impact of the proposed U.S. troop redeployment on the
international community, and on your country in particular. Prepare to speak for no more than five minutes.
You may use notes to outline your thoughts.

Task 7: talking about history

Describe an important day in your country’s history that is still celebrated today. Describe not only what
happened, but how it was important.
 CAMPAIGN NEWS
DIGEST
SEPTEMBER 2004
Teacher’s Notes
Task 1
1. shrine e) holy place
2. deployment h) positioning or placement (especially of troops)
3. realignmentd) change of position or arrangement
4. undermine f) destabilize, weaken
5. blockade a) deny access
6. outskirts c) border, fringes
7. uprising b) revolt
8. full-scale g) complete, total

Task 2
For advanced students, you might have them talk about the difference between the underlined words and
their synonyms. Think not only of literal meaning, but of connotations, usage, etc.

Task 3
Before you correct student work, you might try having the students first correct each other’s sentences,
checking for prepositions, word order, etc.

Task 4
Allow discussion. Sometimes the answer to a ‘why’ or ‘how’ is implicit in the story itself, sometimes it is
expressly stated. The ‘when’ might be a specific date, or a general time period such as ‘currently’ or ‘in the
recent past’ and may be expressed only by verb tense. And sometimes, depending on your point of view, the
‘who’ in a story may be debatable: in the first article, for example, is the ‘who’ the U.S. Army, the Mahdi
Army, or even Moqtada al-Sadr?

Task 5
An excellent introductory exercise for intermediate to advanced students is to have them try to put answers to
all six question words for any given story in one sentence. This is a great way to work on word order, phrases
and clauses, and eliminating needless vocabulary. For advanced students, you can even place a word limit on
the sentence, like 25 words or less. It’s tricky, but it can be done. You might give them a fun example:
who? Mickey Mouse what? hit Donald Duck over the head how? with a baseball bat where? at
the zoo when? yesterday afternoon why? because Donald kicked him. (21 words)
Have the students look at each other’s sentences and identify the five Ws and the H. Then have them vote on
the which sentence they liked best.

Tasks 6 and 7
Either of these may partly be assigned for homework, with individuals or teams developing a presentation to
give in the next class. Encourage the use of audio-visual aids if you have these available.

For more information, visit these websites:

Iraq: www.nytimes.com/pages/world/worldspecial/index.html
 CAMPAIGN NEWS
DIGEST
For U.S. Troop Withdrawal see the Council on Foreign Relations:
www.cfr.org/pub7258/bernard_gwertzman_william_l_nash/nash_little_value_in_announcing_troop_pulloutf
rom_europe_and_asia_now.php
Nepal: www.nepalnews.com/
Paris Liberation: www.paris.org/Expos/Liberation/