An Iraqi man votes in the December parliamentary elections.

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by Britain during the course of World War I. In 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under United Kingdom administration. Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of military strongmen ruled the country.

The latest was Saddam Hussein. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait, but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Persian Gulf War of January to February 1991. Following Kuwait's liberation, the United Nations Security Council required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections.

Continued Iraqi noncompliance with the Security Council resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the Saddam Hussein regime. Coalition forces remained in Iraq, helping to establish the secure rule of law and restore the country’s degraded infrastructure.

The Coalition Provisional Authority, which temporarily administered Iraq after the invasion, transferred full governmental authority on June 28, 2004, to the Iraqi Interim Government, which governed under the Transitional Administrative Law for Iraq. Under the TAL, elections for a 275-member Transitional National Assembly were held in Iraq on Jan. 30, 2005.

Following these elections, the Iraqi Transitional Government assumed office. The TNA was charged with drafting Iraq's permanent constitution, which was approved in an Oct. 15, 2005 constitutional referendum. An election under the constitution for a 275-member Council of Representatives was held on Dec. 15, 2005.

On March 16, 2006 the Iraqi Council of Representatives was sworn-in and on June 8, 2006 the last two ministers of the Iraqi cabinet were sworn in. While Iraq was battling an active insurgency, Iraqi citizens braved threats of violence to vote in vast numbers for their freedom. About 79 percent of voters approved the constitution in October 2005 and about 77 percent of voters participated in the December 2005 election.

Although the new Council of Representatives faced the difficulties of reconciliation, in February 2008 it passed three landmark laws that strengthened government institutions and established a precedent for compromise. These laws included the 2008 Fiscal Budget, an Amnesty Law for Iraqi prisoners, and the Provincial Elections Law.

Beginning in July 2006, the GOI and MNF-I began the systematic hand over of security responsibility in selected Iraqi provinces to provincial civil authorities under the control of the province’s Governor. By the end of December 2007, the security for nine of Iraq’s 18 provinces had been transferred to provincial Iraqi control.

To support the transition of security to the local governments, 28 Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) have been established to support all the Iraqi provinces. Composed of civilian and military personnel from various agencies of the U.S. Government and other Coalition partners, the PRTs are focused on building local and regional capacity in governance. Since 2003, the U.S. Government has spent $32 billion on reconstruction and stabilization efforts, and the PRTs support these efforts by assisting provincial and local governments to deliver essential needs like schools, roads, sewage and water services.

MNF-I’s mandate to support Iraq’s political transition to a democratic government was formalized in June 2004 by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546. Since UNSCR 1546, which recognized the request by the Prime Minister of Iraq’s Transitional Government for the retained presence of the multinational force to support the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq, the MNF-I mandate has been renewed every subsequent year.

UNSC Resolution 1790 extended MNF-I’s mandate after December 2007 but also limited the mandate to expire December 2008. It established that during 2008 the Government of Iraq would negotiate future security arrangements with individual countries on a bilateral basis. In the spring of 2008 the Iraqi Government and the U.S. Government entered into talks to outline a Strategic Framework Agreement that will normalize relations between both countries and allow for the preservation of Iraq’s security and sovereignty.