This report examines current private security contractor (PSC) trends in Afghanistan and Iraq, steps the Department of Defense (DOD) has taken to improve oversight and management, and the impact that using private security personnel can have on military operations. It also reviews steps Congress has taken to exercise oversight over the use of PSCs and includes options for Congress.

This report provides an overview of Iraq's political transition from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to a plural polity that encompasses varying sects and ideological and political factions. This report also addresses ongoing governmental instabilities and their causes, as well as U.S. concerns about possible Iranian influence in Iraq as U.S. forces depart the country.

This report discusses the relationship between Iraq and Iran in the post-Saddam Hussein era, with particular focus on what Iran's intentions and/or long-term goals may be for increasing its influence in Iraq. The report explores the various strategies that Iran has used to spread its influence throughout Iraq's military and political spheres. The report also addresses the United States' concern over the Iran-Iraq relationship, especially as it concerns armed Shiite factions and U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about a fighting which is predicted between Iraqi and Iranian forces along the border between the two countries.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about Saudi Arabia who will demand that four American oil companies to give up their shares of Aramco for a likely price of one and a half billion dollars.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about the solar energy which is considered one of the long-range answers to the nation's shortage of energy supplies. Also, Arab nations which will hold a summit meeting in Alegria to discuss Syria-Israeli disengagement on the Golan Heights.

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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.

Report on the weapon capabilities of Iraq, specifically on chemical and biological weapons.

Elections for a transitional National Assembly, provincial councils, and a Kurdish regional assembly were held on January 30, 2005. High voter turnout in mostly Shiite and Kurdish areas led to a first and second-place finish for slates backed by these two communities. Sunni Arabs, dominant under Saddam Hussein, appear to have been further marginalized by their relative lack of participation in the vote. This report will be updated regularly. See CRS Report RL31339, Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and Post-Saddam Governance.

This report identifies selected Web sites for maps of Iraq. Selected government, library, and organizational Web site addresses are provided. Maps of the Middle East, Iraq, the No-Fly Zone, and Facilities Used by U.S. Forces in the Gulf are also provided.

This report discusses the "oil-for-food" program (OFFP) as the centerpiece of a long-standing U.N. Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while maintaining key elements of the 1991 Gulf war-related sanctions regime. The program, in operation from December 1996 until March 2003, is detailed.