1. BACKGROUND OF KIRKUK.  Knowing the answers to the following questions will help you to better understand the article:
a.  Are the Kurds Arab? 
b.  Who are the Kurds? 
c.  What religion do most Kurds follow?
d.  What is Kurdistan? 
e.  Where is Kirkuk?
f.   What did Saddam do to the people of Kirkuk?  Why?
g.  What was the Anfal campaign?

You will find the answers to some questions in the article. For others, go to:
-Wikipedia.org here and here (for this link scroll down to "Kurds in Iraq")
-For a brief background of Kirkuk, click here
-For a map of Kurdish areas (in jpg format) click here (The Kurdish areas are the darker pink shaded areas)

2.  Who is Ibrahim al-Jaafari?  Who is Jalal Talabani?  Why is Mr. Talabani pressing Mr. al-Jaafari to step down?

3.  How does Kirkuk's history explain why residents aren't entirely dismayed by the current level of insecurity in that region?

4.  How do people in Kirkuk feel about the progress there?

5.  While lacking basic necessities, the displaced people of Kirkuk are taking responsibility for providing an education for their children.  What do you think about their actions?

6.  How does this article contrast with most TV news reports about Iraq that you have seen?