Just days after U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq, a series of attacks in Baghdad have raised doubts about the security of the country, while political upheaval threatens to undermine its government. AEI’s vice president for foreign and defense policy studies, Danielle Pletka, shared some questions with U.S. Senator John McCain.

Review of Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco, by David L. Phillips.

Review ofLarry Diamond's Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bugled Effort to Bring Demoncracy to Iraq and David L. Phillips's Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco.

Poland is one of our biggest supporters, often called our Trojan horse in Europe; so why did the Polish government announce it would withdraw all its troops from Iraq?

We’ve left Iraq in a bottle with three scorpions–with no help from us except kind words.

Charlie Sheen succeeded at turning his own debasement into a national pseudo-event by calling the very definition of losing “winning.” And that’s what 2011 was all about: pretending to be winning while really losing.

Unfortunately, now that Congress’ supercommittee has failed to reach some kind of budget deal, we may be doomed to crossbows for good.

AEI has covered the Iraq conflict from start to finish, as well as the longer war in Afghanistan in the face of a looming 2014 deadline for Afghan security forces to take over.