Iraq in Transition: A Status Report

The war if Iraq has received only limited attention in the US media and various research centers over the last year. It remains, however, a critical aspect of US national security, and involves more vital US strategic interest than the conflict in Afghanistan.

The Burke Chair has developed a new report on the war entitled Iraq in Transition: A Status Report. It is available on the CSIS web site at http://csis.org/files/publication/110705_Iraq_Transition.pdf.

This report provides an overview of the political, security, and economic developments in Iraq, as well as developments in the Iraqi energy sector and shifts in international and US aid to Iraq. It summarizes the current capabilities and size of Iraqi security forces (ISF), and their dependence on aid.

It also summarizes the cost of the war to date to the US, the patterns in the withdrawal of US forces, and current plans for the US military withdrawal from Iraq. A separate sections summarizes  plans for US State Department-led effort to create a strategic partnership with Iraq under the Strategic Framework Agreement.

The report provides these summaries in the form of key graphs, tables, and maps and only summary narratives. It should be noted that it draws heavily on reporting by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq (SIGIR), and that the SIGIR quarterly report published covering developments in Iraq through April 2011 provides far more narrative detail on development in Iraq and US plans for the future.

The CSIS report also draws on other reporting by the Department of Defense, the State Department, Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Office, CIA, and the Energy Information Agency of the US Department of Energy. All provide additional unclassified and declassified data on current developments in Iraq that can only be summarized in this report.

 

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Anthony H. Cordesman

Anthony H. Cordesman

Former Emeritus Chair in Strategy