An interesting quiz, with some valuable reference links at the bottom.
Here is a link to the original:
http://truthout.org/docs_03/040103H.shtml
Iraq War Quiz
by Stephen R. Shalom
1. The anti-war movement supports our troops by urging that they be
brought home immediately so they neither kill nor get killed in a unjust
war. How has the Bush administration shown its support for our troops?
a. The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee voted to cut $25
billion in veterans benefits over the next 10 years.
b. The Bush administration proposed cutting $172 million from impact
aid programs that provide school funding for children of military
personnel.
c. The administration ordered the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to stop
publicizing health benefits available to veterans.
d. All of the above.
2. The anti-war movement believes that patriotism means urging our
country to do what is right. How do Bush administration officials define
patriotism?
a. Patriotism means emulating Dick Cheney, who serves as
Vice-President while receiving $100,000-$1,000,000 a year from
Halliburton, the multi-billion dollar company which is already lining up
for major contracts in post-war Iraq.
b. Patriotism means emulating Richard Perle, the warhawk who serves
as head of the Defense Intelligence Board while at the same time meeting
with Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi on behalf of Trireme, a company of
which he is a managing partner, involved in security and military
technologies, and while agreeing to work as a paid lobbyist for Global
Crossing, a telecommunications giant seeking a major Pentagon contract.
c. Patriotism means emulating George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul
Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft, Lewis
Libby, and others who enthusiastically supported the Vietnam War while
avoiding serving in it and who now are sending others to kill and be
killed in Iraq.
d. All of the above.
3. The Bush administration has accused Saddam Hussein of lying regarding
his weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following might be
considered less than truthful?
a. Constant claims by the Bush administration that there was
documentary evidence linking Iraq to attempted uranium purchases in Niger,
despite the fact that the documents were forgeries and CIA analysts
doubted their authenticity.
b. A British intelligence report on Iraq's security services that was
in fact plagiarized, with selected modifications, from a student article.
c. The frequent citation of the incriminating testimony of Iraqi
defector Hussein Kamel, while suppressing that part of the testimony in
which Kamel stated that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been
destroyed following the 1991 Gulf War.
d. All of the above.
4. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher stormed out of a press
conference when the assembled reporters broke into laughter after he
declared that the U.S. would never try to bribe members of the UN. What
should Fleisher have said to defend himself?
a. It wasn't just bribery; we also ordered the bugging of the home
and office phones and emails of the UN ambassadors of Security Council
member states that were undecided on war.
b. Oh, come on! We've been doing this for years. In 1990 when Yemen
voted against authorizing war with Iraq, the U.S. 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
of the conditions for an African country to receive preferential access to
U.S. markets that it "not engage in activities that undermine United
States national security or foreign policy interests"?
d. All of the above.
5. George Bush has declared that "we have no fight with the Iraqi
people." What could he have cited as supporting evidence?
a. U.S. maintenance of 12 years of crippling sanctions that
strengthened Saddam Hussein while contributing to the death of hundreds of
thousands of Iraqi civilians.
b. The fact that "coalition" forces have indicated that they will use
cluster bombs in Iraq, despite warnings from human rights groups that "The
use of cluster munitions in Iraq will endanger civilians for years to
come."
c. By pointing to the analogy of Afghanistan, which the U.S. pledged
not to forget about when the war was over, and for which the current Bush
administration foreign aid budget request included not one cent in aid.
d. All of the above.
6. The Bush administration has touted the many nations that are part of
the "coalition of the willing." Which of the following statements about
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 are
actually a coalition of the unwilling - unwilling to reveal their names.
c. Coalition members - most of whose contributions to the war are
negligible or even zero - constitute less than a quarter of the countries
in the UN and contain less than 20% of the world's population.
d. All of the above.
7. The war on Iraq is said to be part of the "war on terrorism." Which of
the following is true?
a. A senior American counterintelligence official said: "An American
invasion of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by Al Qaeda
and other groups... And it is a very effective tool."
b. An American official, based in Europe, said Iraq had become "a
battle cry, in a way," for Al Qaeda recruiters.
c. France's leading counter-terrorism judge said: "Bin Laden's
strategy has always been to demonstrate to the Islamic community that the
West, and especially the U.S., is starting a global war against
Muslims. An attack on Iraq might confirm this vision for many Muslims. I
am very worried about the next wave of recruits."
d. All of the above.
8. The Bush administration says it is waging war to stop the spread of
weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following is true?
a. The United States has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty, viewed worldwide as the litmus test for seriousness about nuclear
disarmament.
b. The United States has insisted on a reservation to the Chemical
Weapons Convention allowing the U.S. President the right to refuse an
inspection of U.S. facilities on national security grounds, and blocked
efforts to improve compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention.
c. Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, testified on Feb. 11, 2003, "The long-term trends
with respect to WMD and missile proliferation are bleak. States seek these
capabilities for regional purposes, or to provide a hedge to deter or
offset U.S. military superiority."
d. All of the above.
9. The Bush administration says it wants to bring democracy to Iraq and
the Middle East. Which of the following is true?
a. If there were democracy in Saudi Arabia today, backing for the
U.S. war effort would be the first thing to go, given the country's
"increasingly anti-American population deeply opposed to the war."
b. The United States subverted some of the few democratic governments
in the Middle East (Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953), and has backed
undemocratic regimes in the region ever since.
c. The United States supported the crushing of anti-Saddam Hussein
revolts in Iraq in 1991.
d. All of the above.
10. Colin Powell cited as evidence of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link an audiotape
from bin Laden in which he called Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party
regime "infidels." Which of the following is more compelling evidence?
a. An FBI official told the New York Times: "We've been looking at
this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's
there."
b. According to a classified British intelligence report seen by BBC
News, "There are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the
al-Qaeda network."
c. According to Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda: Global
Network of Terror, "Since U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in October
2001, I have examined several tens of thousands of documents recovered
from Al Qaeda and Taliban sources. In addition to listening to 240 tapes
taken from Al Qaeda's central registry, I debriefed several Al Qaeda and
Taliban detainees. I could find no evidence of links between Iraq and Al
Qaeda."
d. All of the above.
Answers and Sources
1. d (a) Cong. Lane Evans, "Veterans Programs Slashed by House
Republicans," Press Release, 3/13/03,
http://www.veterans.house.gov/democratic/press/108th/3-13-03budget.htm.
(b) Brian Faler, "Educators Angry Over Proposed Cut in Aid; Many
Children in Military Families Would Feel Impact," Washington Post,
3/19/03, p. A29. (c) See Veterans' for Common Sense, letter to George
W. Bush, 3/20/03 http://www.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 could open
the door for U.S. and British firms. French, Russian and Chinese rivals
would lose their edge," Los Angeles Times, 3/12/03, p. I:1; Robert Bryce
and Julian Borger, "Halliburton: Cheney is still paid by Pentagon
contractor, Bush deputy gets Dollars 1m from firm with Iraq oil
deal," Guardian (London), 3/12/03, p. 5 (which notes that Halliburton
"would not say how much the payments are; the obligatory disclosure
statement filled by all top government officials says only that they are
in the range of" $100,000 and $1 million. (b) Seymour M. Hersh, "Lunch
with the Chairman," New Yorker, 3/16/03; Stephen Labaton, "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 Hampshire Gazette, "The
Chickenhawks," http://nhgazette.com/chickenhawks.html.
3. d (a) See the evidence collected in Cong. Henry Waxman's letter to
George W. Bush, 3/17/03,
http://www.house.gov/waxman/text/admin_iraq_march_17_let.htm. (b) See Glen
Rangwala's report, http://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: How
Washington Dominates Today's UN, New York: Olive Branch, 1996,
p. 33. (c) Sarah Anderson, Phyllis Bennis, and John Cavanagh, Coalition of
the Willing or Coalition of the Coerced?: How The Bush Administration
Influences Allies in Its War on Iraq, Washington, DC: Institute for Policy
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 He Reveals That
British Forces Will Use Cluster Bombs," Independent, 3/21/03, p. 4; Human
Rights Watch, Press Release, 3/18/03: "Persian Gulf: U.S. Cluster Bomb
Duds A Threat; Warning Against Use of Cluster Bombs in Iraq." (c) Zvi
Bar'el, "Flaws in the Afghan Model," Ha'aretz,
3/14/03,http://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 our side. So
many nations recognize this danger [of Iraq's weapons]. And they do it in
the face of public opposition." Quoted in Steven R. Weisman With Felicity
Barringer, "Urgent Diplomacy Fails To Gain U.S. 9 Votes In The U.N." NYT,
3/10/03, p. A1) (b) U.S. Dept. of State, Daily Press Briefing, Richard
Boucher, Washington, DC, 3/18/03. (c) Country list: White House, Statement
of Support from Coalition, 3/25/03,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/print/20030325-8.html; population
calculated from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001,
Washington, DC: 2001, table 1327. Total includes USA. The White House list
includes countries whose leaders have done no more than state their
support for the United States, and the listing changes from day to day,
with some countries being added and some removed.
7. d (a) Don Van Natta Jr. and Desmond Butler, "Anger On Iraq Seen As New
Qaeda Recruiting Tool," NYT, 3/16/03, p. I:1. (b) Van Natta and Butler,
NYT, 3/16/03. (c) Van Natta and Butler, NYT, 3/16/03.
8. d (a) Colum Lynch, "U.S. Boycotts Nuclear Test Ban Meeting; Some
Delegates at U.N. Session Upset at Latest Snub of Pact Bush Won't
Back," Washington Post, 11/12/02, p. A6. (b) Amy E. Smithson,
"U.S. Implementation of the CWC," in Jonathan B. Tucker, The Chemical
Weapons Convention: Implementation Challenges and Solutions, Monterey
Institute, April 2001, pp. 23-29,
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/tuckcwc.htm; Jonathan Tucker, "The Fifth
Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention," Feb. 2002,
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_7b.html. (c) Testimony before the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence, excerpted at
http://traprockpeace.org/usefulquotesoniraq.html.
9. d (a) Craig S. Smith, "Saudi Arabia Seems Calm But, Many Say, Is
Seething," NYT, 3/24/03, p. B13. In fact, "Though the Saudi government
officially denies it, the bombing campaign is being directed from Saudi
Arabia - something that few Saudis realize." (b) On Syria, see Douglas
Little, ACold War and Covert Action: The United States and Syria,
1945-1958,@ Middle East Journal, vol. 44, no. 1, Winter 1990,
pp. 55-57. On Iran, see Mark J. Gasiorowski, "The 1953 Coup D'Etat in
Iran," International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 19, Aug. 1987,
pp. 261-86. (c) Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn, Out of the
Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein, New
York: HarperPerennial. 1999, chap.1.
10. d (re audiotape, see David Johnston, "Top U.S. Officials Press Case
Linking Iraq To Al Qaeda," NYT, 2/12/03, p. A1; Mohamad Bazzi, "U.S. says
bin Laden tape urging Iraqis to attack appears real," Newsday, 2/12/03,
p. A5. (a) James Risen and David Johnston, "Split at C.I.A. and F.B.I. On
Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda," NYT, 2/2/03, p. I:13. (b) "Leaked Report Rejects
Iraqi al-Qaeda Link," BBC News, 2/5/03. (c) Rohan Gunaratna, "Iraq and Al
Qaeda: No Evidence of Alliance," International Herald Tribune, 2/19/03.
Interpreting Your Score
9-10 Correct: Excellent. Contact United for Peace and Justice,
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/, and work to fight the war and the system
that produced it.
6-8 Correct: Fair. You've been watching a few too many former generals and
government officials who provide the "expert" commentary for the
mainstream media. Read the alternative media!
3-5 Correct: Poor. Don't feel bad. George W. Bush only got a C- in
International Relations at College.
0-2 Correct: Failing. You have a bright future as an
"embedded" journalist.
Thanks,
John Ellingsworth
http://ellingsworth.org/john/
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