Iraq War Quiz

by Stephen R. Shalom

Stephen R. Shalom teaches political science at William PatersonUniversity in New Jersey. He is the author of Which Side Are You On?An Introduction to Politics (Longman, 2003). This quiz first appearedon ZNet. Answers appear at the end.

1. The anti-war movement supports our troops by urging that they bebrought home immediately so they neither kill nor get killed in aunjust war. How has the Bush administration shown its support for ourtroops?

a. The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee voted to cut $25billion in veterans benefits over the next 10 years.

b. The Bush administration proposed cutting $172 million from impactaid programs which provide school funding for children of militarypersonnel.

c. The administration ordered the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to stoppublicizing health benefits available to veterans.

d. All of the above.

2. The anti-war movement believes that patriotism means urging ourcountry to do what is right. How do Bush administration officialsdefine patriotism?

a. Patriotism means emulating Dick Cheney, who serves asVice-President while receiving $100,000-$1,000,000 a year fromHalliburton, the multi-billion dollar company which is already liningup for major contracts in post-war Iraq.

b. Patriotism means emulating Richard Perle, the warhawk who serves ashead of the Defense Intelligence Board while at the same time (1)meeting with Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi on behalf of Trireme, asecurity and military technologies company of which Perle is amanaging partner, and (2) agreeing to work as a paid lobbyist forGlobal Crossing, a telecommunications giant seeking a major Pentagoncontract.

c. Patriotism means emulating George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, PaulWolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft, LewisLibby, and others who enthusiastically supported the Vietnam War whileavoiding serving in it and who now are sending others to kill and bekilled in Iraq.

d. All of the above.

3. The Bush administration has accused Saddam Hussein of lyingregarding his weapons of mass destruction. Which of the followingmight be considered less than truthful?

a. Constant claims by the Bush administration that there wasdocumentary evidence linking Iraq to attempted uranium purchases inNiger, despite the fact that the documents were forgeries and CIAanalysts doubted their authenticity.

b. A British intelligence report on Iraq's security services that wasin fact plagiarized, with selected modifications, from a studentarticle.

c. The frequent citation of the incriminating testimony of Iraqidefector Hussein Kamel, while suppressing that part of the testimonyin which Kamel stated that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had beendestroyed following the 1991 Gulf War.

d. All of the above.

4. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher stormed out of a pressconference when the assembled reporters broke into laughter after hedeclared that the US would never try to bribe members of the UN. Whatshould Fleisher have said to defend himself?

a. It wasn't just bribery; we also ordered the bugging of the home andoffice phones and emails of the UN ambassadors of Security Councilmember states that were undecided on war.

b. Oh, come on! We've been doing this for years. In 1990 when Yemenvoted against authorizing war with Iraq, the US ambassador declared"That will be the most expensive 'no' vote you ever cast."

c. Why do you think the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act makes one ofthe conditions for an African country to receive preferential accessto US markets that it "not engage in activities that undermine UnitedStates national security or foreign policy interests"?

d. All of the above.

5. George Bush has declared that "we have no fight with the Iraqipeople." What could he have cited as supporting evidence?

a. US maintenance of 12 years of crippling sanctions that strengthenedSaddam Hussein while contributing to the death of hundreds ofthousands of Iraqi civilians.

b. The fact that "coalition" forces have indicated that they will usecluster bombs in Iraq, despite warnings from human rights groups that"The use of cluster munitions in Iraq will endanger civilians foryears to come."

c. By pointing to the analogy of Afghanistan, which the US pledged notto forget about when the war was over, and for which the current Bushadministration foreign aid budget request included not one cent inaid.

d. All of the above.

6. The Bush administration has touted the many nations that are partof the "coalition of the willing." Which of the following statementsabout this coalition is true?

a. In most of the coalition countries polls show that a majority,often an overwhelming majority, of the people oppose the war.

b. More than ten of the members of the coalition of the willing areactually a coalition of the unwilling--unwilling to reveal their names.

c. Coalition members--most of whose contributions to the war arenegligible or even zero--constitute less than a quarter of thecountries in the UN and contain less than 20 percent of the world'spopulation.

d. All of the above.

Answers and Sources

1. d (a) Cong. Lane Evans, "Veterans Programs Slashed by HouseRepublicans," Press Release, 3/13/03,www.veterans.house.gov/democratic/press/108th/3-13-03budget.htm. (b) Brian Faler, "Educators Angry Over Proposed Cut in Aid; ManyChildren in Military Families Would Feel Impact," Washington Post,3/19/03, p. A29. (c) See Veterans' for Common Sense, letter to GeorgeW. Bush, 3/20/03www.veteransforcommonsense.org/print.asp?id=563; Melissa B.Robinson, "Hospitals Face Budget Crunch," Associated Press, 7/31/02;Jason Tait, "Veterans angered by marketing ban," Eagle-Tribune(Lawrence, MA),8/2/02 http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20020802/FP_003.htm

2. d (a) Warren Vieth and Elizabeth Douglass, " Ousting Hussein couldopen the door for US and British firms. French, Russian andChineserivals would lose their edge," Los Angeles Times, 3/12/03, p. I:1;Robert Bryce and Julian Borger, "Halliburton: Cheney is still paid byPentagon contractor, Bush deputy gets Dollars 1m from firm with Iraqoil deal," Guardian (London), 3/12/03, p. 5 (which notes thatHalliburton "would not say how much the payments are; the obligatorydisclosure statement filled by all top government officials says onlythat they are in the range of" $100,000 and $1 million. (b) Seymour M.Hersh, "Lunch with the Chairman," New Yorker, 3/16/03; StephenLabaton, "Pentagon Adviser Is Also Advising Global Crossing," NYT,3/21/03, p. C1. Perle is to be paid $725,000 for his lobbying effort,including $600,000 if his lobbying is successful. (c) New HampshireGazette, "TheChickenhawks," nhgazette.com/chickenhawks.html.

3. d (a) See the evidence collected in Cong. Henry Waxman's lettertoGeorge W. Bush, 3/17/03, www.house.gov/waxman/text/admin_iraq_march_17_let.htm. (b) SeeGlen Rangwala's report,traprockpeace.org/britishdossier.html. (c) See Glen Rangwala's report, http://traprockpeace.org/kamel.html.

4. d (a) Martin Bright, Ed Vulliamy, and Peter Beaumont, The Observer(London), 3/2/03. (b) Quoted in Phyllis Bennis, Calling the Shots: HowWashington Dominates Today's UN, New York: Olive Branch, 1996, p. 33.(c) Sarah Anderson, Phyllis Bennis, and John Cavanagh Coalition of theWilling or Coalition of the Coerced?: How The Bush AdministrationInfluences Allies in Its War on Iraq, Washington, DC: Institute forPolicy Studies, 2/26/03, p. 4.

5. d (a) For background, see Anthony Arnove, ed., Iraq Under Siege:The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War, Cambridge: South End Press,updated ed. 2003. (b) Paul Waugh, "Labour MPs Attack Hoon After HeReveals That British Forces Will Use Cluster Bombs," Independent,3/21/03, p. 4; Human Rights Watch, Press Release, 3/18/03: "PersianGulf: US Cluster Bomb Duds A Threat; Warning Against Use of ClusterBombs in Iraq." (c) Zvi Bar'el, "Flaws in the Afghan Model," Ha'aretz,3/14/03, www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=272884.

6. d (a) See, for example, the revealing comment of Secretary of State Powell: "We need to knock down this idea that nobody is on ourside. So many nations recognize this danger [of Iraq's weapons]. Andthey do it in the face of public opposition." Quoted in Steven R.Weisman With Felicity Barringer, "Urgent Diplomacy Fails To Gain US 9Votes In The U.N." NYT, 3/10/03, p. A1) (b) US Dept. of State,DailyPress Briefing, Richard Boucher, Washington, DC, 3/18/03. (c)Country list: White House, Statement of Support from Coalition,3/25/03,www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/print/20030325-8.htmlpopulation calculated from Statistical Abstract of the United States,2001, Washington, DC: 2001, table 1327. Total includes USA. The WhiteHouse list includes countries whose leaders have done no more thanstate their support for the United States, and the listing changesfrom day to day, with some countries being added and some removed.

Interpreting Your Score

6 Correct: Excellent. Contact United for Peace and Justice,www.unitedforpeace.org, and work to fight the war and the system that produced it.

4-5 Correct: Fair. You've been watching a few too many former generalsand government officials who provide the "expert" commentary for themainstream media. Read the alternative media!

2-3 Correct: Poor. Don't feel bad. George W. Bush only got a C- inInternational Relations at College.

0-1 Correct: Failing. You have a bright future as an "embedded"journalist.

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