dr. katzman. >> thank you, mr. chairman, for having me back -- >> can you hit the button. >> thank you very much for asking me to appear. my primary responsibilities at crs are on iraqi politics, culture, history, u.s. policy toward iraq, rather than specifically the legalities of the u.s.-iraq agreement or the united nations. i'll summarize my comments and ask that the remainder be committed for the record. thank you very much. in evaluating the implementation of the u.s.-iraq security agreement, including these provisions, committing the united states to support lifting the remaining chapter 7 resolutions mandates, it is useful, i think, to assess where iraqi politics stand. and that i think addresses the broader questions in several opening statements about where the u.s. mission stands, the implications of the u.s. decision to intervene if high rack in 2003. in general, iraq's political system can be characterized by peaceful competition rather than violence. however, sectarianism and ethnic and factional infig