A Year in Iraq Ends, Violence Rages

By Jim Kavanagh CNN


(CNN) -- This was the year the war in Iraq went from bad to "grave and deteriorating."

As 2006 began, optimism dominated as Iraqi politicians attempted to form a government and choose a prime minister following remarkably smooth elections.

But the year will be remembered more for the rise in sectarian violence that followed. (Watch a look back at a year of struggle and despair in Iraq )

Hussein Video Grips Iraq; Attacks Go On

FOCUS History of Bushes and Hussein Is Hard to Ignore

The history of animosity between the Bushes and Hussein is hard to ignore. The relationship actually began as one of pragmatic friendship in the 1980s, when Hussein was at war with the main US enemy in the region, Iran, and George H.W. Bush was vice president in an administration that offered him help. A 1992 New Yorker article suggested that Bush, through Arab intermediaries, advised Hussein to intensify the bombing of Iran. Hussein soon became too much to handle.