Troop Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, More from CRS

The number of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the decade following 9/11 is documented or projected in a detailed new report from the Congressional Research Service.  “Using five DOD sources, this report describes, analyzes, and estimates the number of troops deployed for each war from the 9/11 attacks to FY2012 to help Congress assess upcoming DOD war funding requests as well as the implications for the long-term U.S. presence in the region.”  See “Troop Levels in the Afghan and Iraq Wars, FY2001-FY2012: Cost and Other Potential Issues” (pdf), July 2, 2009.

Other substantively new and interesting CRS reports that have not previously been published online include the following (all pdf).

“U.S. Security Assistance to the Palestinian Authority,” June 24, 2009.

“North Korea’s Second Nuclear Test: Implications of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874,” July 1, 2009.

“Indonesia: Domestic Politics, Strategic Dynamics, and American Interests,” updated June 17, 2009.

Last month, for the first time since 1989, the House of Representatives impeached a federal judge, Samuel B. Kent of the Southern District of Texas.  Background on the process is helpfully provided in “Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice,” June 22, 2009.

Resolutions of Inquiry are increasingly used in the House of Representatives to elicit information from the executive branch.  In the current Congress, eleven such resolutions had been introduced by mid-June.  An updated account of this legislative instrument is given in “House Resolutions of Inquiry,” June 17, 2009.