Before the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq had been something of a counterweight to Iranian power in the Middle East. Now with Saddam gone, Iranian political influence has been expanding, not just in Iraq, but in the region. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, Saudi Arabia is not happy about the shift in what had been a delicate balance of power.

Empowering Iran was not one of aims of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Nevertheless, analysts say, it has become one of its unintended consequences.

A new study says the war in Iraq is creating terrorists out of foreign fighters who will then pose a new threat when they return to their home countries. The study comes to the conclusion that Iraq War critics have been making for some time: the war is causing terrorism rather then stopping it.

We speak with Peter Bergen, a research fellow at the Center on Law and Security at the NYU School of Law and senior fellow at the New America Foundation, who co-authors the study...

THE ingredients most likely to spark confrontation between the United States and Iran could scarcely be simpler or more combustible: a tin filled with an explosive charge and a lump of copper is all that is needed to manufacture what the US military calls an Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP).

When the device is triggered by an infrared sensor it fires a molten ball of metal at its target with sufficient speed to penetrate most American vehicles' armour. The consequences can be horrific.

The US House of Representatives on Friday issued a rebuke to George W. Bush’s Iraq strategy in the first concrete demonstration of opposition to the war by Capitol Hill since the US-led invasion almost four years ago.

The 246-182 vote was non-binding and will have no impact on Mr Bush’s plan to deploy 21,500 extra troops in addition to the 131,000 already there as part of his “new way forward in Iraq” unveiled last month...