Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security
Abstract
The Administration is claiming success in reversing the deterioration in security that had become acute by the end of 2006, attributing the gains to a troop surge strategy announced by President Bush on January 10, 2007. The centerpiece of the strategy was the deployment of an additional 28,500 U.S. forces to help stabilize Baghdad and to take advantage of growing tribal support for U.S. policy in Anbar Province. Defense Department assessments in June 2008 said that overall violence is down as much as 80% since early 2007, to levels not seen since 2004, but that progress can be fragile and tenuous if not accompanied by national reconciliation and economic development. The Administration argues that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is increasingly recognized as capable, and that Iraqi legislative action in Iraq since the beginning of 2008 represents a substantial measure of the progress on political reconciliation that was envisioned by the surge. Going forward, the Administration believes that the current strategy -- "conditions-based" gradual reductions in U.S. forces and continued building of Iraq's security forces -- is likely to produce a unified, democratic Iraq that can govern and defend itself and is an ally in the war on terror. The progress comes after several years of frustration that Operation Iraqi Freedom had overthrown Saddam Hussein's regime, only to see Iraq wracked during 2004-2007 by violence caused by Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, resulting Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence, competition among Shiite groups, and the failure of Iraq's government to equitably administer justice or deliver services. Mounting U.S. casualties and financial costs without clear movement toward national political reconciliation stimulated debate within the United States over whether the initial goals of the intervention -- a stable, democratic Iraq that is a partner in the global war on terrorism -- could ever be achieved, and, if so, at what cost.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 21, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA484765
Entities
People
- Kenneth Katzman
Organizations
- Library of Congress