How many countries said they would not participate in the US-led coalition?

• A. Two
• B. One
• C. Three
• D. Four

Answer: (C)

When a passage talks about who will join or not join a coalition, the key is to look for explicit statements about participation. In this case, the article clearly identifies three governments that said they would not join the US-led coalition. Those are direct refusals to participate in the military effort, which is exactly what the question is asking about. Other countries might have joined or offered non-military support, but those do not change the count of non-participants. So the number described in the text is three.