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

__________________

The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
Hunter S. Thompson

Jonesy

No time for numbers! Rev. Wright exercised his 1st Amendment rights!

Gaia

And here we have our elders in their "golden" years, having to scrounge/beg for food and using a van for shelter, if not living in the streets, because they can't make ends meet on their measly social secrurity checks. That is shameful.

They did a story on this on the national news yesterday.

Wasting so much money on a war that should not be, and not taking proper care of our veterans, elders and sick people...that's really something to be proud of!

__________________
The present moment is a powerful goddess.
~ Goethe

Rollerball

McCain: It's only Shameful if we are not Victorious in Iraq.

Rigged

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.

__________________
Peter, get out of the fridge...
There is no peter, only zool...

BillCosby

Heres your problem right here..........

& the idiots that came before him & those that will follow him.........

The world is seen narrowly: only how it effects us...

We are good they are suspect or worse.........

THat others suffer that we may relax & partake....... That is but a small price to pay........

We do not wish to change the world to mirror our image but rather change the world to suit our life style & comfort.

Rules, treaties & the like our mere formalities & tools to keep others in line & are subject to change given our needs.........

Like those that came before us:

Not to accept this is inconceivable.

Not to embrace it is incomprehensible...

& to oppose it is sheer madness........

That others do have their own legitimate goals & aspirations is only a consideration as to how it may effect our own.

Opposition= bad, fanatical, militant, radical, terrorist etc. (ppl unlike ourselves lacking "legitimately" as defined by us- as in back in the day how they defined the Native as savages, brutes w/out souls etc.... Vilifying enemies has a long tradition)

Allies/friends etc: (those that share our values/wealth & in the exploitation & profit) No real need to define this other than to say those that are like us...........

__________________
Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

BleedingPinky

Why was mr. Bush elected for Presidency twice in a row?
a) Beats me.
b) Beats me.
c) Beats me.
d) Beats me.