The U.N.'s top diplomat in Iraq,Ad Melkert, echoed the council's call, saying the delays are contributing to uncertainty and creating conditions that could be exploited by elements opposed to the country's democratic transition.

VOA: standard.2010.08.04

With the impasse unlikely to be resolved before the end of this month, when U.S.troops will drop to their lowest levels in Iraq since the war began in 2003, the U.N.Security Council pressed the legislators to work through their differences in "the national interest" and form "as quickly as possible, a government that is inclusive and represents the will of the Iraqi people."

VOA: standard.2010.08.04

Iraq The U.N. agreement with Iraq is only a deadly intermission, weakening future inspection efforts, enabling Saddam Hussein to sell more oil and increasing opportunistic pressures from France, Russia and others to ease or end sanctions.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

The U.S. and the U.N. have faced tensions over control of Iraq, with U.N. leaders saying that once the world body returns to the country it wants more of a say in how things are run than the U.S. seemed ready to cede.

CNN: U.N. help sought on Iraq vote

Immediately after those talks, Iraq remained insistent that discussions would progress only if issues such as U.S. threats against Iraq, the no-fly zones, and U.N. sanctions against Iraq were on the table.

CNN: U.S. 'skeptical' of Iraq weapons inspection offer