1) What percentage of Iraqis, according to a BBC/ABC poll conducted in August (during the "surge"), are "opposed to the presence of coalition forces in their country"?
a. 15%
b. 36%
c. 52%
d. 79%
2) What percentage of Iraqis believe that the "surge" has made the security situation worse, according to a BBC/ABC poll conducted in August?
a. about 9% of Iraqis believe the security situation has gotten worse
b. about 17% of Iraqis believe the security situation has gotten worse
c. roughly half of Iraqis believe the security situation has gotten worse
d. about 70% of Iraqis believe the security situation has gotten worse
3) In 2006, the US-led forces dropped an average of almost 4 bombs per week in Iraq. In 2007, how many bombs per week were dropped in Iraq?
a. About 4 bombs per week: air strike levels have been kept
constant
b. About 7 bombs per week: air strikes increased during the surge
c. About 12 bombs per week: air strikes have tripled during 2007
d. About 28 bombs per week: air strikes have increased by a factor
of 5.
4) How many guns has the U.S. distributed in Iraq and then lost since the U.S. invasion in 2003?
a. 40,000
b. 80,000
c. 140,000
d. 190,000
5) How many Iraqis are currently held in US detention facilities without charge?
a. None, all Iraqis imprisoned have been charged with a crime
b. 1, 500 Iraqis
c. 6,000 Iraqis
d. 25,000 Iraqis
6) Fill in the blank: Approximately one out of every _____ Iraqi marriages was mixed along ethnic and/or sectarian lines (Sunni-Shia, Arab-Kurd, Christian-Turkmen, etc.) before the 2003 invasion.
a. one out of every three Iraqi marriages
b. one out of every five Iraqi marriages
c. one out of every ten Iraqi marriages
7) During the surge, how has the rate of Iraqis fleeing their homes been impacted?
a. The rate has decreased because of the increased security
resulting from the surge.
b. The rate has stayed roughly the same.
c. The rate has doubled.
d. The rate has quadrupled.
8). How many times has the US met with Iranian officials to discuss reducing the violence in Iraq?
a. never
b. three times
c. six times
d. over 20 times
9) In May of 2003, Iran made a proposal for negotiations with the United States. Secretary of State Powell, his deputy Richard Armitage, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice took the proposal to President Bush, but Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney stopped the effort, explaining that "We don't speak to evil".
Which of the following items were on the agenda that Iran proposed?
a. "coordination of Iranian influence for activity supporting political stabilization and the establishment of democratic institutions and a non-religious government�"
b. recognition of Israel in exchange for a viable Palestinian state, through the acceptance of the Arab League Beirut declaration
c. cut off all support to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and to disarm Hezbollah
d. complete cooperation with the IAEA and transparency on its nuclear program
e. all of the above
10) Fill in the blank: As the British withdrew from Basra to this last fall, the violence against British and Iraqi security forces ___________:
a. increased by 90% as the withdrawal progressed
b. increased by 23% as the withdrawal progressed
c. decreased by 23% as the withdrawal progressed
d. decreased by 90% as the withdrawal progressed
Answers:
1) d. 79% of Iraqis are opposed to the presence of coalition forces in their ocountry according to a poll conducted in August by BBC, ABC, and the Japanese broadcast service NHK. This is the third poll conducted by this group, and each consecutive poll shows an increase in disapproval of US-led coalition forces.
2) d. About 70% of Iraqis believe the US “surge” of extra troops over the past six months has worsened the security situation. This is according to the aforementioned BBC/ABC/NHK poll conducted in August of 2007, and published last September.
3) a. About 28 bombs per week: air strikes have increased by a factor of 5.
4) b. 190,000 weapons are missing.
The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a governmental report released last August.
5) e. 25,000 Iraqis are currently held in US prisons without charge. The number of detainees has greatly increased during the months of the “surge” and the number is expected to double through 2008. Some detainees are as young as 11 years old. It is estimated that there are 100 Iraqi orphaned children imprisoned and in US custody. There are another 60,000 Iraqis detained in Iraqi prisons, including 700 orphaned children.
6) a. one out of every three Iraqi marriages
While there are no official statistics, many sociologists estimate that up to a third of all marriages in Iraq were mixed along ethnic and sectarian lines prior to the US-led invasion of 2003.
7) a. The rate of Iraqis fleeing their homes has quadrupled during the surge.
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society released these finding this November, in an analysis of displacement rates inside and outside the country since the surge began in February. An estimated 2.3 million Iraqis were forced to flee their homes, becoming either refugees or IDP’s (internally displaced persons). 8 in 10 were residents of Baghdad, where there was the highest concentration of US surge troops. Over 83% of those refugees were women and children under 12.
8) c. The US has had 3 bi-lateral discussions with Iran. US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi held face-to-face talks in May, July, and August of 2007, the highest level public contacts between the two sides for 27 years. There has been no meeting since. Iranian officials said that a new round of talks would be held on March 6th in Baghdad and that the US cancelled the meeting, but both US and Iraqi officials denied that negotiations had been scheduled.
9) e. All of the above was the correct answer.
In this May 2003 “Grand Bargain”, Iran proposed to cooperate with the US on its nuclear program, stabilization in Iraq and counter-terrorism throughout the Middle East, and implicit recognition of Israel. In exchange Iran asked that the US offer a “security guarantee” and commitment to disavow all intentions of regime change, along with an abolishment of sanctions, and “recognition of Iran’s legitimate security interests in the region. Former Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ambassador Kharrazi reported that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei as well as former President Khatami was active in the drafting of this proposal.
For more on the story of this proposal and the administration’s rejection of it, see New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof’s account of the events and links to the full text of Iran’s “Grand Bargain”.
10) d. decreased. As the British withdrew from Basra to this last fall, the violence against British and Iraqi security forces decreased by 90%.
As the International Herald Tribune reports: “The presence of British forces in downtown Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest instigator of violence,” Maj. Gen. Graham Binns told reporters Thursday on a visit to Baghdad's Green Zone.
“We thought, 'If 90 percent of the violence is directed at us, what would happen if we stepped back?'” Binns said.
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