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Washington, District of Columbia : Library of Congress Congressional Research Service, 2002.
Summary:
Operation Iraqi Freedom overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime, but Iraq remains unstable because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by Sunni-Shiite violence that some believe is now a civil war. Mounting U.S. casualties and financial costs -- without clear signs of security progress -- have intensified a debate within the United States over whether to wind down U.S. involvement without completely accomplishing initial U.S. goals. U.S. Defense Department reports are expressing more pessimism about security in Iraq and they, as well as Bush Administration officials, are expressing some frustration at the unwillingness of the Iraqi government to disband sectarian militias that are committing violence against civilians of rival sects. U.S. difficulties in Iraq are discussed in the December 6, 2006, report of the Iraq Study Group co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former House International Relations Committee chair Lee Hamilton, which call the Iraq situation "grave and deteriorating." Administration officials say President Bush, who says that progress is slower and less than was expected, addressed the nation on new initiatives in Iraq on January 10, 2007. He announced a deployment of an additional 21,500 U.S. forces to help stabilize Baghdad and restive Anbar Province, as well as other measure to create jobs and promote political reconciliation. He and other officials have previously asserted that U.S. policy has shown some 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. While continuing to build, equip, and train Iraqi security units, the Administration has worked to include more Sunni Arabs in the power structure, particularly the security institutions. Some in Congress -- as well as the Iraq Study Group -- believe that major new initiatives are required that do not involve additional U.S. forces. The Study Group recommendations focus on intensified regional diplomacy to enlist help from neighboring states to calm their protege factions in Iraq. Others believe that sectarian violence is placing U.S. forces in the middle of civil war and that setting a timetable for withdrawal, or otherwise reducing U.S. support for the Baghdad government, might force compromise among Iraqi factions.
Notes:
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