Even before the US invasion of Iraq, challenging questions were on the rise. Why did three separate US administrations all agree on maintaining crippling economic sanctions on Iraq? Was it really the UN that imposed those international sanctions? Why was the second Bush administration so determined to go after Saddam Hussein? What was Operation Iraqi Freedom all about? What did oil have to do with it? Is the US occupation of Iraq connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Are those who oppose the war really anti-American and soft on terrorism? Even if the US mainstream press ignores many of these questions, independent analysts have examined them since before the war began. Phyllis Bennis was one of the many Middle East and UN-watchers who anticipated disaster long before the first US troops crossed into Iraq. Here, in an easy-to-read, Frequently Asked Questions format, Institute for Policy Studies scholar Bennis provides clear, unambiguous, and honest answers to these and many more queries. With the Bush administration and most Democratic presidential candidates for the 2008 elections agreeing that US troops will remain in Iraq indefinitely this handy guide is a must-read.