Excerpts from previous political updates, by subject:

March 9, 2004

Abandoning the U.S. plan for Iraqi caucuses

U.S. and Iraqi officials have still not decided on the shape of a transitional government, which will run the country between June 30 - the date the U.S.-led occupation is scheduled to end - and the elections in January 2005. The Bush administration's idea of holding regional caucuses to set up the transitional government was rejected by a range of Iraqis, including Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and members of the Iraqi Governing Council.

Official statements after Saddam's capture

Soon after the capture of Saddam Hussein became public on the morning of December 14, the U.S. Administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, announced to a cheering audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him." Hussein's discovery, which came after months of a frustrating search and increasing violence against coalition forces, marked an indisputable political gain for U.S. President George W. Bush. In a brief and solemn speech to the American people, Bush said "a hopeful day has arrived" but emphasized that "the capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq."