British Mandate of Mesopotamia

At the end of the year, the mandate which allows the United States to operate in Iraq under international law runs out. Issues of Iraqi sovereignty and oil-wealth distribution will bubble through the discussions between the White House and the Iraqi government. Guests: John Burns, The New York Times

Iraq still hasn’t formed a new government but some things never stopped. For instance, Iraq’s postal service. Even throughout the war, it kept on delivering the mail. The World’s Susannah George visited a post office in Baghdad.

Anchor Lisa Mullins talks with Anthony Shadid, Baghdad correspondent for the New York Times, about the stalled progress in Iraq. Iraqis are still unable to form a government nearly seven months after elections, and insurgent violence is not going away.

A new book profiles an Iraqi family’s experience of the war in Iraq from their great optimism in 2003 to the despair and horror of the civil war years. Anchor Katy Clark talks with author Christina Asquith who shared their lives in Baghdad for many years.

Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with the US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, about the current state of life in Iraq.