1. Post Election Iraq

5. Key Judgments we can assess with high confidence that no one Iraqi political group was able to gain enough of the 163 seats needed to form a government. We know that this election has created an outbreak of violence in the area with Shia, Sunni and Kurdish regions conflicting. We know that all of Iraq’s neighbors are carefully watching post election Iraq, as the outcome of the country will affect their own nations. We assess with high confidence that in post-election Iraq the success or failure of the new government is of particular importance to Iraq’s neighbor Iran who might lose or gain power in the region. We can assess with high confidence that the Iraqi election has and will continue to affect other major Middle Eastern countries including Syria, Turkey and Saudi Arabia who have significant interest in the outcome of Iraq. We judge that the United States should keep a close watch on the situation and make sure that no one country gains too much power or influence over Iraq. We advise still removing troops as soon as possible from Iraq and not letting the recent resurgence of violence change the pull out date of August for US troops.