Iraq: Government Formation and Benchmarks [Updated February 14, 2008]   [open pdf - 74KB]

From the Summary: "The current government is the product of a U.S.-supported election process designed to produce a democracy, although many now believe it produced a sectarian government incapable of reconciling Iraq's communities. This sentiment has grown to the point where some believe that the United States should seek a decentralized Iraq with substantial autonomy for each community. However, the Administration says that, partly as a result of the U.S. 'troop surge,' it is now seeing some concrete signs of political accommodation, most notably at local levels. See CRS [Congressional Research Service] Report RL31339, 'Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security', by Kenneth Katzman."