As he weighs options on Iraq, President Bush will consider not only the Iraq Study Group report but also pending in-house reports from the National Security Council and the Pentagon.

Experts predict that if civil war erupts in Iraq, the spark may come from Kirkuk. Oil-rich and under de facto Kurdish control, the city has emerged as one of Iraq’s most hotly contested flashpoints.

Violence in oil-rich Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, is one of the most serious security challenges facing Iraq ’s new government.

This publication is now archived. What is the status of Iraq’s insurgency? Despite some political progress, Iraq’s insurgency shows few signs of waning, experts say. The most recent attack—a series o…