The CH-46 Sea Knight was flying over Karma, an Iraqi insurgent base near Falluja.

FORBES: Light Warfare

The Americans have hoped in vain that, once the insurgent grip is weakened in any town, the Iraqi police would over time build up the networks of informants they need to nip rebel activity in the bud.

ECONOMIST: Iraq

So the new government will face colossal challenges: the huge numbers of frustrated, unemployed Iraqi youths are a willing pool of recruits, not just for insurgent groups but also for the armed gangs and criminal underworld that hold sway in many parts of the country.

ECONOMIST: Defying the bombers to cast their votes | The

But optimists note that perhaps a hundred are now seen as ready to some degree, and Iraqi troops took a leading role in a recent offensive in Tel Afar, an insurgent stronghold.

ECONOMIST: Now for the hard part | The

Bush also drew a picture of his war-planning options amid a wave of sectarian and insurgent violence, continued casualties of U.S. forces and an Iraqi government that the report said is struggling to reconcile the fractious nation's many cultural differences.

CNN: Bush: Iraq benchmarks report 'cause for optimism'

Top U.S. officials, including President Bush, have said they are disappointed by the Iraqi government's slow rate of progress toward a political resolution of the country's insurgent and sectarian warfare.

CNN: Report finds little progress in Iraq

One Iraqi minister today claimed that as many as 100, 000 families have been displaced so far by sectarian and insurgent fighting.

NPR: A Conversation with Iraq Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad

Anbar, once a battleground between al Qaeda in Iraq and U.S. and Iraqi security forces, has seen a drop in violence because many people in the region have joined the anti-insurgent "awakening" movement.

CNN: Bombings kill at least 60 in Iraq