NewsTracker Answers for week of July 11, 2016

Q: A seven-year British inquiry into the invasion of Iraq blasted a former prime minister for joining the U.S. in a rush to war with flawed intelligence, faulty reasons and poor planning. Critics say more than 150,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the 2003 invasion and the nation continues to suffer. Where is Iraq?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Last week, a suicide truck bombing in the Iraqi capital killed 250 people, the deadliest such attack since the 2003 invasion. What is the capital of Iraq?

A. Ankara

B. Baghdad

C. Cairo

D. Damascus

B. The so-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the bombing in Baghdad, the second largest city in the Arab world after Cairo, Egypt. The bombing in a mostly Shia Muslim area came a week after Iraqi forces had recaptured the city of Falluja from IS fighters.

Q: The Islamic State terrorist group was formed in the chaos that followed the invasion of Iraq and defeat of Saddam Hussein. The group seized control of large areas of Iraq and its western neighbor . . .

A. Iran

B. Jordan

C. Syria

D. Turkey

C. Iraq is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest, and Syria to the west. IS terrorists follow an extreme form of Sunni Islam and consider Shia Muslims, who dominate Syria and Iraq, to be heretics.

Q: IS attracted many Sunnis who were thrown out of Iraq’s army after the defeat of Hussein. The U.S. had earlier supported Hussein in a war against the largest Shia Muslim nation . . .

A. Iran

B. Kuwait

C. Saudi Arabia

D. Turkey

A. Iraq declared war on Iran in 1980, and the nations fought to stalemate in 1988. The war cost the lives of between half a million and 1.5 million people.

Q: The 2003 invasion was the second time the United States and Britain fought Hussein. The first Gulf War war was triggered when Iraq invaded the oil-rich emirate of . . .

A. Jordan

B. Kuwait

C. Saudi Arabia

D. Turkey

B. Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait in 1990. A U.S.-led military coalition drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait and devastated Hussein’s forces. In 2003, the U.S. and Britain said they had to invade Iraq because Hussein was building weapons of mass destruction, a claim which turned out to be false.