Quote:
Originally Posted by serum114
What Do You Know About Iraq?
May, 01 2008 By Peter Lems
It takes a commitment to understand the ongoing impact of the war and occupation in Iraq. Here is a test you can take to measure how well you have kept up with events.
1) How much does the U.S. pay per day for the war in Iraq?
a) $100 million
b) $270 million
c) $525 million
d) $720 million
2) If the U.S. spent $1 per day in Iraq, how much would go to repair and humanitarian assistance?
a) 7 cents
b) 13 cents
c) fraction of one penny
d) 1 penny
3) What is the population of Iraq?
a) 53 million
b) 12 million
c) 27 million
d) 100 million
4) How many Iraqis have been displaced from their homes?
a) 8 million
b) 100,000
c) 5 million
d) 3 million
5) How many Iraqi have been killed?
a) 750,000
b) 1 million
c) 500,000
d) 17,000
6) How many Iraqis are now refugees outside the country?
a) 3.7 million
b) 750,000
c) 900,000
d) 2.4 million
7) How many Iraqi refugees has Syria accepted?
a) 75,000
b) 1.4 million
c) 500,000
d) 900,000
8) How many Iraqi refugees has the U.S. accepted?
a) 750
b) 100,000
c) 725,000
d) 1,700
9) How many U.S. troops are in Iraq? (Not including mercenaries and private contractors.)
a) 50,000
b) 325,000
c) 700,000
d) 165,000
10) What countries border Iraq?
a) Lebanon, Palestine, North Korea, Pakistan
b) Yemen, Sudan, Somalia
c) Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
d) Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan
ANSWERS : 1-D, 2-C, 3-C, 4-C, 5-B, 6-D, 7-B, 8-D, 9-D, 10-C
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Ok..that's a little less than I was expecting but whatever. I think this is a good post but the question we should be asking ourselves is how much history do we know about the region and how is that history effecting our current relations with people of the middle east?
Not just American history mind you, we should look to I dunno, British colonial history, the cold war, the Ottoman Empire, etc
I firmly believe that most Americans don't know that Iraq was a country not formed by its people but by colonials who carved out borders where it was convenient at the time, not taking into consideration the people who live on that land.
Where am I going? I am saying that Iraq was never a country that could work, because it was never a country, or a nation would be better. There never was an Iraqi identity, people saw themselves as part of a clan or sect before they identified themselves as part of Iraq greater. It's a strange thing about people, is they have to want to be part of a democracy. They have to want to compromise, they have to want to make it work. It is obvious they don't, not all the groups want equal representation. I see why they distrust western institutions after being under its heel for so long. History rearing up to bite us in the ass again. CIA operations to overthrow a legitimate government that paved the way for Saddam Hussein, another short-sighted American creation.
Anyways, I believe that when we leave Iraq, it will break up into several pieces.
What will happen after that is the big question.