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The article outlines the political debate surrounding the withdrawal of the American troops from the Iraq War. A Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress wants to set a time-table for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq, but U.S. president George W. Bush is expected to veto such a bill. Senator John McCain comments on the ramifications of pulling the troops. Topics discussed include refugees, civil war, and troop surges. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates comments on military tour extensions.

Reports on the recent hostile forces that have been attacking in Iraq, and explores the possibility of foreigners being responsible for some of them. Breakdown of the different anti-American groups and the leaders of each group that have been linked or could be a part of the recent attacks in Iraq; Details of the recent attacks, including the latest intelligence from the Bush Administration and the military; Efforts by the intelligence community, such as the United States Central Intelligence Agency, to figure out who is behind each attack; Barriers for soldiers trying to communicate with Iraqis; Breakdown of the various ethnic groups inside of Iraq and their relationship with the American-backed alliance.

Offers a look at the role of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the conflict in Iraq, 2004. Conflicts between followers of al-Sadr and the United States soldiers; Agreement between al-Sadr and the coalition forces that requires U.S. troops to pull back and be replaced by Iraq's security forces; Reaction of citizens to the bombing of the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq; Claim that the United States has lost the support of Iraqi civilians in southern Iraq.

The reconstruction process in Iraq continues to move slowly. "Long Live Saddam" read the scrawls on the bombed bridge over the Diyala river, one of the two arteries leading out of Baghdad to Basra. Queues of hooting vehicles snake north and south over a makeshift crossing the American army has left in its place. The bridges were quickly rebuilt after the 1991 war, says an angry driver. "Saddam would have done better." Six months after the war, Iraqis do not understand why so little of America's promised reconstruction has materialised. According to USAID, road reconstruction by September amounted to a 1.5km (one-mile) bypass. Of the 49 damaged bridges surveyed by Bechtel, the San Francisco construction company that is being paid by USAID to supervise Iraq's reconstruction, work has begun on only three. In many ways, life for Iraqis is better than it was under Saddam. State employees have seen their salaries rise up to 40-fold. Import duties have collapsed from 400 percent to zero. The detritus of war has been removed, and the streets have sweepers getting $3 a day. But on October 1, 2003, Iraqi troops fired over the heads of protesters demanding jobs, and the continuing violence meant that parents feared sending their children to the schools that reopened this week. Half of Baghdad's 500,000 phone lines are still out of action. Iraqis have to struggle to find evidence of where their oil wealth, and American tax-payers' money, have gone. Much more money will be on its way when, or if, Congress approves U.S. President George W. Bush's multi-billion package ($20.3 billion for Iraq's capital budget, and $51 billion in military logistics). Bechtel says that the $680m it is receiving from USAID amounts to less than 5% of its $16 billion assessment of Iraq's civilian reconstruction needs, and is enough for "critical" projects only.

Reports that occupying U.S. forces in Iraq are facing Iraqi attacks and discontent following liberation. Deaths of coalition soldiers following U.S. President George W. Bush's calling an end to major combat operations; Blame placed on Iranian agents and Baathist saboteurs; Civilian victims in Faluja; Outrage of the Iraqi people toward the occupiers for their failure to fix problems such as the loss of electricity and increases of armed robbery; Need for the creation of a legitimate Iraqi government so that the liberators can go home.