U.S. and Iraqi troops arrested the leader of a crucial Awakening Council in Baghdad on Saturday, setting off a rare spasm of street fighting and raising fresh concerns about the troubled Awakening program that has brought many militants onto the government's side in its battle against Sunni extremists. ...more

March 29, 2009

The United States plans to withdraw most of its troops from Iraq by August 2010, 19 months after President Barack Obama's inauguration, according to administration officials. ...more

February 24, 2009

The top U.S. general in Iraq said he will make a decision about the future role of American troops in early spring, to allow enough time to address any violence that may arise from January's provincial elections. ...more

December 21, 2008

The Iraqi parliament will vote Wednesday on a pact that would allow U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years, but the government's hopes of winning a wide margin of approval to ensure the deal's legitimacy appeared to be fading. ...more

November 23, 2008

Gen. David Petraeus took charge of U.S. Central Command at a ceremony Friday morning at MacDill Air Force Base, saying his first trip after being sworn in would be to Pakistan. ...more

November 1, 2008

Gen. David Petraeus took charge of U.S. Central Command at a ceremony Friday morning at MacDill Air Force Base, saying his first trip after being sworn in would be to Pakistan. ...more

October 31, 2008

The U.S. military formally handed control of Babil province to Iraqi security forces during a ceremony Thursday morning in the once-violent central state. ...more

October 24, 2008

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned Iraqi lawmakers that approving a U.S. troop agreement would be tantamount to a betrayal of the Iraqi people, as his supporters rallied against the deal Saturday. ...more

October 19, 2008

Concern over upcoming elections and widening tensions among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups appear to be the reasons for the U.S. military's recommendation to put the brakes on withdrawing more American troops from Iraq despite improvements in security. ...more

September 6, 2008

President Bush agreed to "a general time horizon" for withdrawing American troops in Iraq, the White House said Friday, in a concession that reflected both progress in stabilizing Iraq and the depth of political opposition to an open-ended military presence in Iraq and at home. ...more

July 19, 2008