Crs Report for Congress - Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security July 13, 2007 - Rl31339 (Paperback)

Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but much of Iraq remains violent because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite violence that a January 2007 national intelligence estimate (NIE) said has key elements of a "civil war." Mounting U.S. casualties and financial costs -- without clear overall improvements in levels of violence or political reconciliation among Iraq's major communities -- have intensified a debate within the United States over whether to wind down U.S. involvement without completely accomplishing initial U.S. goals. President Bush announced a new strategy on January 10, 2007 ("New Way Forward") consisting of deployment of at an additional 28,500 U.S. forces to help stabilize Baghdad and restive Anbar Province. The strategy is intended to provide security conditions conducive to Iraqi government action on a series of key reconciliation initiatives that are viewed as "benchmarks" of political progress. The FY2007 supplemental appropriation, P.L. 110-28, linked some U.S. reconstruction aid to progress on the benchmarks, but allows for a presidential waiver to continue the aid even if little or no progress were observed in Administration reports due July 15, 2007 and September 15, 2007. According to the required July 15, 2007 Administration report, released ...