With the help of UNESCO, Iraq is overhauling its school curriculum with one goal being to make the teaching of history "an instrument to unify the Iraqi people," according to the Ministry of Education official doing the overhaul.

But Iraq, both currently and historically, is a deeply divided nation, and those in charge of how that history is taught want to do so without exacerbating sectarian and ethnic tensions.

According to The New York Times, those rewriting the curriculum have a simple rule: If it's controversial, leave it out. Thus, says the Times, Iraqi teachers are forbidden to teach their students anything about the American invasion of Iraq or the government of Saddam Hussein it overthrew. One current text makes no mention at all of the American invasion.

Khazi Mutlaq, the official in charge of the new texts, told the Times, "We are trying to sort out the sensitive subjects. For example, the events of 2003 and the invasion. Some of the Iraqi people call it Operation Freedom. Some call it an occupation. So we don't address this subject."

One can see why the Iraqis would want to block out of historical memory the 35 brutal years of Saddam, who was overthrown in 2003 and executed in 2006. But since the Americans are so physically there, rumbling through the streets in armored vehicles, clattering overhead in helicopters, it would seem hard to simply overlook their presence.

Iraq has a long and frankly bloody history, so omitting the unpleasant parts presents its challenges. Thus, a history textbook of Iraq from 1258 to the present is only 96 pages long.

Iraq is not alone in letting things slip out of the public dialogue. Here in the United States, we don't think or talk much about the Iraq war, either.