1. For IRAQ, give the following information:

1. capital
2. location/the countries that share its borders
3. the religious breakdown of the population
4. the type of government
5. the chief of state (and head of government if different) If monarch or dictator, since what date has he/she ruled? – include name of heir apparent for monarch
6. the population

Find the answers at the CIA World FactBook website. For each country, answers can be found under the “Geography” “People” and “Government” headings.

NOTE: Before answering the following questions, read the “Background” and watch the videos under “Resources” below.

2. For IRAQ:
a) Who was Qassem Soleimani?
b) Where/how was he killed?
c) List the events in order that led to the U.S. drone strike on Soleimani.
d) Who was also killed in the U.S. drone strike alongside Soleimani?
e) What is Kataib Hezbollah? Be specific.
f) What aggressive actions had Kataib Hezbollah militants been engaged in for several months prior to Soleimani’s death?
g) What warning had Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued two weeks before Soleimani’s death?
h) The Iranian government is enraged that the U.S. followed through on our warning and retaliated after an American was murdered at their direction. Many U.S. news reports warn of dire consequences for the U.S. because Iran is threatening revenge for the killing of the general. The Iranian government has been engaged in a proxy war against the U.S. since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

James Jay Carafano, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who is vice president for national security and foreign policy at The Heritage Foundation said the following in a statement following Soleimani’s death:

“The reported deaths of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani and the Iraqi commander of the militia that killed an American last week was a bold and decisive military action made possible by excellent intelligence and the courage of America’s service members. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, led by Suleimani, was responsible for the deaths of more than 600 Americans in Iraq between 2003-2011, and countless more injured.”

“He was a chief architect behind Iran’s continuing reign of terror in the region,” Carafano said of Suleimani, adding: “This strike against one of the world’s most odious terrorists is no different than the mission which took out Osama bin Laden—it is, in fact, even more justifiable since he was in a foreign country directing terrorist attacks against Americans. His death is a huge loss for Iran’s regime and its Iraqi proxies, and a major operational and psychological victory for the United States.”

Ask a parent: what do you think? Did President Trump make the right or wrong decision in taking out Soleimani? Please explain your answer.