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Intelligence Issues for Congress

Description: To address the challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community in the 21st century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. This report discusses these challenges and efforts the current and previous Administrations and Congresses have taken and are taking to address them. The report includes criticism of the intelligence community's efforts regarding Iraq, Iran, and other areas. Improved… more
Date: October 14, 2010
Creator: Best, Richard A., Jr.
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The Iran-Iraq War: Implications for U.S. Policy

Description: This report discusses the Iran-Iraq conflict at its present state, which has become a war of attrition with neither side capable of achieving a decisive military victory over the other in the short term. U.S. policy concerns currently are threefold: first, that Iraq, despite moves to sustain its economic and military capacities, ultimately might suffer a destabilizing defeat to the detriment of U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region; second, that future instability in Iran could open opportu… more
Date: October 14, 1987
Creator: Preece, Richard M.
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Iran's Activities and Influence in Iraq

Description: Iran is materially assisting all major Shiite Muslim political factions in Iraq, most of which have longstanding ideological, political, and religious ties to Tehran, and their armed militias. The Administration notes growing involvement by Tehran in actively directing training, and arming Shiite militiamen linked, to varying degrees, to hardline cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. Some analysis goes so far as to see a virtual "proxy war" between the United States and Iran inside Iraq.
Date: May 14, 2008
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

Iraq: Oil-For-Food Program, Illicit Trade, and Investigations

Description: 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.
Date: June 14, 2005
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth & Blanchard, Christopher M.
open access

Iraq: Politics, Elections, and Benchmarks

Description: 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.
Date: January 14, 2011
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security

Description: 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… more
Date: June 14, 2006
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

Iraq: Post-Saddam National Elections

Description: 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 Effo… more
Date: February 14, 2005
Creator: Katzman, Kenneth
open access

The Islamic State and U.S. Policy

Description: This report provides background on the Islamic State organization, discusses its goals, operations, and affiliates, reviews U.S. legislative and policy debates, and describes select FY2017 legislative proposals.
Date: June 14, 2016
Creator: Blanchard, Christopher M. & Humud, Carla E.
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