Students at Iowa State University have been asked to write a historical account of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as if they were member of al Qaeda.
An International Studies course at Iowa State University requires students to “get out of the box” by writing a convincing account of 9/11 as if they were ideological allies of Osama bin Laden. The assignment, obtained by an educational watchdog, urges students to look at “what we consider heinous action from other perspectives.”
“Write a paper that gives a historical account of 911 from the perspective of the terrorist network. In other words, how might al Qaeda or a non-Western historian describe what happened,” the assignment reads, The College Fix reported Monday. “Don’t worry about the fact that you don’t agree with the terrorists, the point of the exercise is to consider completely different perspectives.”
Lecturer James Strohman did not respond to the watchdog’s request for comment, although a university spokesperson replied on his behalf.
“The assignment was in no way an attempt to diminish the tragic events of September 11, 2001,” Rob Schweers said. “Nor was it designed to support the goals of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. This is similar to the vital work being performed in our nation’s diplomatic and intelligence operations, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, or the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research.”
The 9/11 attacks, hatched by terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, killed 2,977 victims in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. The terror leader was tracked down in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed by members of SEAL Team 6 on May 2, 2011.
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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