RL31339
Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security
May 10, 2007
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Summary
Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but much of Iraq remains unstable because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite violence that a January 2007 national intelligence estimate (NIE) says has key elements of a "civil war." Mounting U.S. casualties and financial costs -- without clear overall improvements in levels of violence -- 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 consisting of deployment of at an additional 21,500 U.S. combat forces to help stabilize Baghdad and restive Anbar Province, as well as other measures to create jobs and promote political reconciliation. He and other officials have asserted that the new security plan would build on important successes: two elections (January and December 2005) that chose an interim and then a full-term parliament and government; a referendum that adopted a permanent constitution (October 15, 2005); progress in building Iraq's security forces; and economic growth. 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. Movement on the reconciliation initiatives has been halting but has not ceased, and the Administration is putting increasing pressure on the Iraqi government to accelerate progress. Senior U.S. military leaders say the 2007 Baghdad security plan has reduced sectarian violence and allowed for an increase in commerce and ease of movement around Baghdad, but it has not, to date, not reduced violence Iraq-wide. Some in Congress -- as well as the Iraq Study Group -- believe that the United States should begin winding down U.S. combat involvement in Iraq. Both chambers adopted a conference report on a FY2007 supplemental appropriation to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (H.R. 1591) that would set a March 31, 2008, deadline for U.S. combat withdrawal -- or three months sooner, if the President does not certify Iraqi progress on the "benchmarks." President Bush vetoed it on May 1, 2007. New versions (H.R. 2206) retaining requirements for progress on the benchmarks are under consideration, although the Administration opposes provisions that would penalize the Iraqi government or hold up U.S. military funding if the benchmarks are not met. Other bills support the Iraq Study Group's recommendation for intensified regional diplomacy to enlist help from neighboring states to calm their protege factions in Iraq. This is a step the Administration has begun to take by participating in a March 10 meeting in Baghdad and a follow-up in Egypt (May 3-4) involving Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria. This report is updated regularly. See also CRS Report RS21968, Iraq: Government Formation and Performance, by Kenneth Katzman; CRS Report RL31833, Iraq: Recent Developments in Reconstruction Assistance, by Curt Tarnoff; CRS Report RL31701, Iraq: U.S. Military Operations, by Steve Bowman; and CRS Report RL33793, Iraq: Regional Perspectives and U.S. Policy, coordinated by Christopher Blanchard.
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Related Legislation:
- H.R.1591
- H.R.2206
- S.2196
