Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security
Abstract
The Administration is claiming success in significantly reducing violence in Iraq to the point where additional U.S. troop reductions can be considered, attributing the gains to a troop surge announced by President Bush on January 10, 2007 (New Way Forward). With the 28,500 surge forces withdrawn as of July 2008, Defense Department reports assess that overall violence is down as much as 80% since early 2007, to levels not seen since 2004, but that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 fundamental political reconciliation and economic development. The Administration believes that additional conditions-based reductions in U.S.forces, continued building of Iraq's security forces, and likely further political progress in Iraq is likely to produce a unified, democratic Iraq that can govern and defend itself and is an ally in the war on terror. 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 would be facilitated by the surge. However, U.S. disagreements with Maliki's proposed timeline for a U.S. withdrawal have prolonged negotiations on a U.S.-Iraq agreement that would govern the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq beyond December 2008. Provincial council elections, originally planned for October 1, 2008, and considered crucial to further reconciliation, are now unlikely to be held in 2008 because a split between the Kurds and Iraq's Arabs over the status of Kirkuk has thus far prevented passage of a needed election law.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 08, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA487162
Entities
People
- Kenneth Katzman
Organizations
- Library of Congress