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This report discusses the government of Iraq and its active role in stimulating and directing the Iraqi economy.This report identifies issues to be addressed before Iraq can participate normally in the world economy.

This report describes the influence military conflict and international sanctions have had on agriculture in relation to Iraq's economy. This includes the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Gulf War, and 2003 Iraq War, the varying degrees of government effort to promote and/or control agricultural production, and the response to 1990 U.N. Sanctions.

The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA or “the authority”) was established approximately one month after United States and coalition forces took control of Baghdad in Iraq on April 9, 2003.1 The authority’s mission was “to restore conditions of security and stability, to create conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future, (including by advancing efforts to restore and establish national and local institutions for representative governance) and facilitating economic recovery, sustainable reconstruction and development. This report discusses two views on how the authority was established, reviews selected characteristics of the authority, identifies statutory reporting requirements concerning the authority and the reconstruction of Iraq, and explores several policy issues.

This report presents casualty data compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from the agency’s press releases.

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.

Interview with Ira Allen Brown, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq post September 11th. Brown describes his time in basic training, moving up the ranks, and his experiences in the service.

The issue of women’s rights in Iraq has taken on new relevance, following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, efforts to reconstruct Iraq, and recent elections for a Transitional National Assembly (TNA). Over the past three years, the Bush Administration has reiterated its interest in ensuring that Iraqi women participate in politics and ongoing reconstruction efforts in Iraq. There has also been a widening debate regarding the extent to which the U.S.-led reconstruction efforts have been able to enhance women’s rights in Iraq and encourage their participation in Iraq’s governing institutions.

Elections for a transitional National Assembly, provincial councils, and a Kurdish regional assembly were held on January 30, 2005. High turnout in Shiite and Kurdish areas led to first- and second-place finishes for slates of these two communities, and they determined the composition of a new government inaugurated in May. See CRS Report RL31339, Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and Post-Saddam Governance.

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The following casualty data was compiled by the Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from the agency's press releases. Included are statistics on fatalities during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003, and is ongoing, as well as on the number of fatalities since May 1, 2003, plus statistics on those wounded, but not killed, since March 19, 2003. Statistics may be revised as circumstances are investigated and as all records are processed through the U.S. military's casualty system.

Iran's influence over the post-Saddam government in Iraq is substantial because the predominant parties in that government have long enjoyed Tehran's sponsorship. An emerging concern is that Iran's influence has extended to support for militant groups in Iraq. U.S. officials say that sophisticated explosive devices are entering Iraq from Iran, suggesting that Iran, or factions within Iran, are backing Iraqi factions that use violence to oppose the U.S. presence in Iraq.

Operation Iraqi Freedom succeeded in overthrowing Saddam Hussein, but Iraq remains unstable because of Sunni Arab resentment and a related insurgency, compounded by burgeoning sectarian violence. According to its November 30, 2005, “Strategy for Victory,” the Bush Administration indicates that U.S. forces will remain in Iraq until the country is able to provide for its own security and does not serve as a host for radical Islamic terrorists. This report discusses the background of the issue and examines several security challenges, response, and other policy options for the U.S.

This report lists significant recent events in Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Sources include, but are not limited to White House press releases, the U.S. Department of State, U.N. Secretary-General's statements, and major news stories.

This report reviews policy proposals and interim contracts, analyzes the positions of various Iraqi political actors, and discusses potential implications for U.S. foreign policy goals in Iraq.

This report analyzes U.S. and international sanctions against Iran and provides examples of companies and countries that conduct business with Iran, based on a wide range of open-source reporting.

This report gives a summary of the usage of the War Powers Resolution (WPR) and various issues related to proposals to modify or repeal the resolution. The report summarizes most recent developments and background, and gives an overview of United Nations actions, and WPR activities in former Yugoslavia/Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq (post-1991), Haiti, and Somalia. It also includes commentary on the instances formally reported under the WPR, consultation with Congress, and the current issues which Congress is considering.

Iran is materially assisting and attempting to influence, in most cases against the United States, major Shiite Muslim factions in Iraq, most of which have ideological, political, and religious ties to Tehran. The Administration asserts that Tehran is actively directing, training, and arming Shiite militiamen linked, to varying degrees, to hardline anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. Some analysts see a virtual "proxy war" between the United States and Iran inside Iraq.

This report examines logistical support contracts for troop support services in Iraq, primarily administered through the U.S. Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP).

Iraq's current government, the result of a U.S.-supported election process designed to produce democracy, continues to be riven by sectarianism and factional infighting. However, the Administration says that the passage of some key laws in 2008 represents major progress on national reconciliation and that planned provincial elections will help heal remaining communal rifts.

This report discusses the current political and social climate of Iraq, specifically in regards to the influence of the U.S. military presence over recent years. It addresses planned and possible future efforts under the Obama Administration, including the scheduled gradual troops withdrawal; some U.S. officials believe that a U.S. military presence is needed beyond the scheduled August 31, 2010 date. This report also discusses the continued tensions between various Iraqi sociocultural groups.

This report discusses Iraq's political system, which has been restructured through a U.S.-supported election process. The Iraqi government is increasingly characterized by peaceful competition rather than violence, but sectarianism and ethnic and factional infighting still remain. This report discusses issues relating to opponents of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and also discusses the atmosphere of nationwide provincial elections. The report also addresses the Obama Administration's plan to reduce the U.S. troop presence in Iraq by August 2010 and briefly addresses the Iranian influence in Iraq.

This report discusses the state of the Kurdish-inhabited region of northern Iraq, which has been fairly peaceful since the fall of Saddam Hussein; however, the region is also home to friction with Christian and other minorities, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Arab leaders of Iraq, and with neighboring Turkey and Iran. The report also addresses other general political issues and tensions in the Kurdish region, and how said tensions might affect and be affected by the projected U.S. drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq between now and August 2010.