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Five U.S. service members were among 25 people killed in Iraq on Monday, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Twenty Iraqis were killed in a series of explosions across the country, including a suicide bombing in Tikrit that killed 11.

The U.S. death toll is the highest in a single incident in two years, and it comes after the U.S. has drastically cut troop strength in Iraq. Only 46,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, down from 170,000 in 2007, during the peak of sectarian violence in Iraq.

U.S. troops have transitioned from a combat role to a support role in Iraq, training Iraqi soldiers and helping secure the country's borders and airspace.

That mission is scheduled to end, and those 46,000 troops to come home, by the end of the year under a plan set by a security agreement negotiated by the U.S. and Iraqi governments in 2008 that governs the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Monday's deaths raise questions about that timeline. Iraq has been seeing an increase in violence that coincides with protesters calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is struggling to fill top security postings. The Iraqi government remains without ministers of defense, interior and national security.

Al-Maliki has given Cabinet ministers until Monday to reduce corruption and improve basic services, an ultimatum imposed after February demonstrations over corruption and lack of personal freedoms turned deadly.

While there may be a need for U.S. forces to remain in Iraq after January 1, the prospect of such a move is controversial – among U.S. and international politicians, military families and Iraqis.

In April, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced in a statement read by another cleric on his behalf that he would "escalate armed resistance and lift the freeze on (the) Mehdi Army" if U.S. forces were to remain. His reference to lifting the freeze referred to the August 2007 suspension of activities by the Mehdi Army, which is al-Sadr's militia.

Those threats essentially leave two options for the U.S. and Iraqi governments: Keep U.S. troops past the deadline to help make sure the Iraqis can secure and protect themselves, but risk radical protests over a longer U.S. presence; or have U.S. troops do as much as they can in Iraq ahead of the deadline and pull out as scheduled.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in April that Iraqi officials have not asked the Obama administration to delay the planned withdrawal. Any discussion about a change in the timetable would be considered, he indicated, but would need to begin soon. Al-Maliki said the White House would need to know by August.

But any changes to the current U.S. mission could bring political heat for President Obama as the nation moves toward the 2012 presidential election.

On Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, accused Obama of not laying out a clear mission for U.S. military operations overseas, including in Iraq. He argued that at a time when Congress is struggling to make significant spending cuts, the president owes the American people some answers.

"I really do believe that the president needs to speak out in terms of our mission in Afghanistan, our mission in Iraq, our mission in Libya. And the doubts that our members have, frankly, are reflected, they're reflecting what they're hearing from their constituents," Boehner said.

"I said several weeks ago, our members are a bit weary about the amount of money we've spent in Iraq and in Afghanistan and that we're spending in Libya and as a result, really are wondering, what's our vital national security interest there?" Boehner asked.

Boehner's concerns came as a new report warned that billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayers' money may be wasted because of the inability of Iraq and Afghanistan to keep American-financed projects running.



25 people killed in Iraq on Monday, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Twenty Iraqis were killed in a series of explosions across the country, including a suicide bombing in Tikrit that killed 11.thats crzy becaus iraq is having a bad epoca by all that of terroriast and im sorry for the families of all those 25 people