American Roman Catholics were urging lawmakers to stop the violence in Iraq and end partisan bickering.

This year has proved to be the deadliest year for US troops in Iraq so far, with the death toll now the highest since the March 2003 invasion.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Washington for a visit seen as a key step in easing the tensions between the two countries over France's opposition to the United States-led invasion of Iraq.

U.S. Marine General Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he made several key mistakes in the days before the start of 2003 invasion of Iraq.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair today strongly defended the Iraq invasion before the parliament's top oversight body, justifying his record in office a week before he steps down.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is suggesting she will defy a congressional subpoena to testify about the Bush administration's reasons for invading Iraq.

Security is tight in the Iraqi capital today on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of U.S. forces in Baghdad during the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. A ban on vehicles is in force to prevent car bombings.

The UN's refugee agency says the number of Iraqis seeking asylum in Western countries rose by 77 percent in 2006 over the previous year.

U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq by urging Americans to be more patient with the progress of the war, and then demanded that Congress pass a military-spending bill that includes no conditions on how he is to manage the conflict.

As Iraqis mark the fourth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, many people are expressing frustration and fear about the future of their country. VOA's Margaret Besheer spoke to Iraqis in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil, where many have gone to flee the violence of Baghdad.