Publication

This report provides an update on the security environment in Iraq. It states that according to Defense Department reports, overall violence is down at least 65 percent from late 2007 levels. The report also examines the January 2009 provincial elections in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces, arguing that the elections did not reduce tensions between the Iraqi Kurds and Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over Kurdish demands for control of disputed areas and local energy development. With an apparent consensus within the US administration to wind down US combat in Iraq, the author argues, there is growing support in US Congress for compelling Iraq to fund key functions now funded by the US.