Iraqi Election and Options for Stabilization
Efforts Toward a Transition to Self-Governance
Shortly after Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) deposed Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003, the Bush Administration linked the end of U.S. military occupation to the completion of a new constitution and the holding of national elections, tasks expected to take two years. However, prominent Iraqis agitated for a rapid restoration of sovereignty, and the Bush Administration decided to hand sovereignty to an appointed Iraqi government by June 30, 2004, and to hold elections and write a constitution thereafter. The elections held on January 30, 2005, were provided for in a Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), signed by Iraqi officials on March…
