Iraq

Fact Sheet: Iraqis Take Responsibility for Security in Anbar Province
Once Considered A Province Lost To Al Qaeda, Today Anbar Becomes The 11th Out Of 18 Provinces To Return To Provincial Iraqi Control [more]

Satellite Press Briefing with Governor Ma’amoun Sami Rasheed, Anbar Province, Iraq
The Department of State will host a special Digital Satellite press conference with the Governor of Anbar Province, Iraq. Governor Ma'amoun Sami Rasheed will brief reporters at the Department of State via satellite on the province's return to Provincial Iraqi control. [more]

U.S. and Iraq Discuss Strategic Framework Agreement
Secretary Rice (Aug. 21): "We’ve had very good discussions on a number of other issues, including the strategic framework agreement. It is an important agreement to allow Iraq and the United States to continue the cooperation that we’ve begun to lay a foundation for future cooperation and to make certain that we solidify the significant gains that have been made in this country in the recent year. And so, thank you for your hard work on that. I did have very good meetings with the Prime Minister and with other leaders. And we look forward to moving forward to agreement." Full Text 

Department of State Supports Rotary Club Project To Assist Amputees in Basra, Iraq (Aug. 11)
The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs has awarded $1.5 million to the Rotary Club’s “Basra, Iraq Prosthetics Project.” The project was created to help restore mobility and dignity to approximately 5,000 amputees in the Basra area who were injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war due to various conflicts dating back to the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. Full Text

President Bush Discusses Iraq
President Bush (July 31):  "... This has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq. Violence is down to its lowest level since the spring of 2004, and we're now in our third consecutive month with reduced violence levels holding steady. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker caution that the progress is still reversible, but they report that there now appears to be a "degree of durability" to the gains we have made." Full Text

The Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force, U.S. Department of Commerce, helps U.S. companies participate in reconstruction and other business opportunities in Iraq. The State Department's Office of Commercial and Business Affairs also provides information on reconstruction contracts.