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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 a January 2007 national intelligence estimate says has key elements of 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, the December 6, 2006, report of the Iraq Study Group, and the national intelligence estimate referenced above express pessimism about security in Iraq. In an effort to counter these trends, President Bush addressed the nation on new initiatives in Iraq on January 10, 2007 and announced a deployment of an additional 21,500 U.S. 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 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 necessarily involve additional U.S. forces. A House resolution adopted on February 16, 2007, opposed the sending of additional forces. On two occasions in February, the Senate did not invoke cloture to vote on measures (S.Con.Res. 2 and S. 574, respectively) expressing similar sentiments. Other bills support the Iraq Study Group's recommendations focusing on intensified regional diplomacy to enlist help from neighboring states to calm their protege factions in Iraq. Some Members and outside experts 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. This report is updated regularly. See also CRS Report RS21968, Iraq: Elections, Government, and Constitution, 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.
