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1 1 (January 10, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govxzg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Inormin. tPlicy Iraq and U.S. Policy Updated January 10, 2019 Iraq Looks to the Future In 2017, Iraqi officials declared victory in the country's years-long military struggle against the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIL/ISIS or the Arabic acronym Da 'esh), but unresolved issues involving governance, territorial control, resources, and security cloud the path ahead. The May 2018 national election for Iraq's unicameral legislature, the Council of Representatives (COR), was carried out without major security disruptions, but the election's disputed outcome delayed government formation. In October, the newly seated COR elected former Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Barham Salih as Iraq's President. Salih, in turn, nominated former Oil Minister Adel Abd al Mahdi, a Shia Arab, as Prime Minister- designate. Lawmakers confirmed Prime Minister Abd al Mahdi and some of his cabinet nominees on October 24, 2018. As of January, most cabinet positions have been filled, while some remain subject to negotiations. Tensions between the national government and the KRG remain in the wake of the KRG's September 2017 advisory referendum on independence and the subsequent return of Iraqi security forces to disputed territories. The paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) created to fight the Islamic State have yet to be fully integrated into national security institutions. Groups and individuals associated with the PMF, some of whom have close ties to Iran, won seats in the 2018 election. The 116th Congress may consider proposals for consolidating security gains made in Iraq since 2014, and conduct oversight into how the Trump Administration's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria might affect stability and levels of violence in Iraq. After the Islamic State Iraq's government declared military victory against the Islamic State in December 2017, but counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations against the remnants of the group are ongoing. Security conditions have improved since 2017, but IS fighters pose a continuing threat and have the potential to regroup and escalate insurgent activities. As the Islamic State lost ground from 2015 to 2017, its fighters left destruction, displacement, and division in their wake. Explosive ordnance and infrastructure damage complicate civilian returns, with volatile interpersonal divisions remaining between those who fled or fought against the Islamic State and those accused of collaboration. Economic and humanitarian conditions remain difficult in many areas, and more than 1.9 million individuals remain internally displaced. The durability of battlefield successes achieved to date may depend on the ability of Iraqi forces, national ministries, and local authorities to protect and stabilize liberated areas and prevent IS reinfiltration, particularly should the Trump Administration seek to draw down U.S. forces. Iraqi officials have identified more than $88 billion in short- and medium-term recovery needs. https:/crsrepo Political and Economic Agenda The fight against the Islamic State unfolded along several ethnic, religious, political, and regional fault lines whose contours hint at Iraq's internal challenges. The fight against the Islamic State mobilized Shia Arab paramilitaries (among others) and unfolded in areas inhabited, and in some cases disputed by, Sunni Arabs, Kurds, and other minorities. Sectarianism has diminished from its post-2003 highs, but some tensions remain. Iraqi leaders have attributed Iraq's battlefield successes in part to cooperation among various forces, including military and counterterrorism services, local and federal police forces, PMF volunteers, and Kurdish peshmerga. It remains to be seen whether such cooperation will last amid political, security, and territorial rivalries. Activists and citizens, including in Kurdish areas, stage periodic protests and demand better service delivery and an end to corruption. In southern Iraq, demonstrations in August and September 2018 resulted in deaths, injuries, and property destruction. Figure I. Iraq Source: CRS, using ESRI and U.S. State Department data. National and KRG Elections in 2018, Provincial Elections Delayed Iraq held national legislative elections for the 328-seat COR on May 12, 2018. Turnout was lower in the 2018 COR election than in past national elections, but the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has stated that it was largely peaceful and orderly. Elections for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were held in September 2018, and provincial elections have been postponed, without a new date being set. Iraq's major ethnic and religious constituencies are internally diverse in political terms, as evident in the 2018 rts.congress.gov

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