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A Helping of Hummus
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Five years into the U.S. occupation, how much do we really know about Iraq?
March 19, 2008 marked the five-year anniversary of our war on Iraq. My God, doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that we were taking our first baby steps into Iraq? How time flies by!
Five years — that’s quite a long time. But how much do you think Americans know about a country we have been at war with for the past five years? To answer this question, I have complied the following quiz to see how “Iraq-smart” you are.
Don’t worry if you don’t fare too well. Even if you fail this quiz you can still go far in life — you could even become the Republican presidential nominee! In a recent press conference in Amman, Jordan, John McCain said: “Well, it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda [in Iraq] is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.”
Actually, this is completely, 100 percent untrue. Al Qaeda in Iraq is predominantly Sunni, and thus does not associate with, let alone receive training from, the Shia majority in Iran. Comforting to know that our potential future president has such a strong grip on foreign policy, isn’t it?
But enough banter, let’s get started with this quiz! It’s very basic material, and we’ll start super easy. Good luck!
1. What is the capital of Iraq?
a. Kabul
b. Baghdad
c. Fallujah
d. Paris
ANSWER: b. Baghdad. Easy point.
2. What is the correct way to pronounce Iraq?
a. “E-rack”
b. “E-rock”
c. “Eye-rack”
ANSWER: No real answer, I just cringe every time someone says “Eye-rack,” Gee-Dubya style. Personally, I’m an “E-rock” advocate.
OK, now a little harder:
3. Before the war, how large were Iraq’s oil reserve relative to the rest of the world?
a. The largest in the world
b. The 4th largest in the world
c. The 11th largest in the world
d. The 23rd largest in the world
ANSWER: b. The 4th largest in the world, right after, (1) Saudi Arabia, (2) Canada, and (3) Iran.
4. The majority of Iraqis belong to what branch of Islam?
a. Shiaism
b. Sunnism
c. Wahhabism
ANSWER: a. Shiaism. Approximately 60-65% of Iraqis are Shia, 32-37% are Sunni, and the remaining 3% are Christian or other religions, according to the CIA World Factbook.
5. The Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein was predominantly:
a. Kurdish
b. Mesopotamian
c. Shia
d. Sunni
ANSWER: d. Sunni. Though less in number than the Shia in Iraq, the Sunnis have traditionally held governmental power.
6. The Iraqi government today is predominantly:
a. Kurdish
b. Shia
c. Sunni
d. They have a government?
ANSWER: b. Shia. Most Iraqi Sunnis, already less in number than Shias, boycotted the December 2005 elections. This helped to contribute to the great victory of the Shia “Islamist United Iraqi Alliance.”
And now for some stats:
7. Approximately how many American soldiers have been killed as result of the war?
a. 100
b. 400
c. 1,000
d. 4,000
ANSWER: On Sunday March 23, 2008, the US Army announced four American military deaths from a roadside bomb, which brought the death toll up to d. 4,000.
8. How many Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of the war?
a. 9,000
b. 50,000
c. 800,000
d. “We don’t do body counts.” — Lt. General Tommy Franks
ANSWER: d. “We don’t do body counts.” There is no known official US military record of the number of Iraqi civilians killed as a result of our war on Iraq. However, IraqBodyCount.org estimates the number of Iraqi civilians dead to be 82,591 – 90,115.
9. How much has the war cost thus far?
a. $100 million
b. $600 million
c. $90 billion
d. $3 trillion
ANSWER: According to Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard Economist Linda Bilmes, a conservative estimate of the war’s cost so far is: d. $3 trillion. That is $10,000 from every single person in the US. However, if you’d like to put your money to good use, the money raised from the Big Red Relief on April 11th in Bailey Hall will be going towards helping the 5 million Iraqi refugees displaced by the war.
And finally, the hardest question of all:
10. Why did we go to war with Iraq?
a. Weapons of Mass Destruction
b. To liberate the Iraqi people from an oppressive dictator
c. To bring democracy to Iraq
d. Oil
ANSWER: It’s a good question. Five years later, we still don’t have an answer.
Nora Choueiri is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be contacted at nchoueiri@cornellsun.com. A Helping of Hummus appears alternate Mondays.