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I recently came across a topic on this forum with pictures of modern U.S. miniatures being used to replay a battle which took place in the war for iraq. I must say I found this very appealing and was wondering does anybody have information on games systems and miniatures which would be suitable for this sort of historical wargaming. I would appreciate any help my fellow dakkadites could give me

Peter pig do some modern 15mm stuff:
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/range17.htm

There are plastic 20mm modern forces available. Check out http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/PeriodList.aspx?period=48 . Try the Caesar Modern US Elite and Caesar Modern Urban Resistors for some Iraq/Afghanesque action.

For rules, maybe Two Hour Wargames Chain Reaction?

Or just homebrew something. But remember that the US will have a huge advantage in terms of equipment, logistics, and tech. The Iraqis/Afghans are essentially poorly trained militia that may or may not be fanatical. You may be able to even things up with allowing the anti-US forces to booby trap areas, large numbers, and/or access to elites (Republican Guard) who can match US infantry pretty evenly (but not Special Forces). Also, dealing with a US MG or sharpshooter squad equipped with a .50 cal is pretty much impossible.

The main scales for modern skirmish scale games are 15mm, 20mm, 28mm and 1/72 plastic.

You can also use the big 1/35/32 (54mm) Army Men kind of figures.

Rules

Combat Storm
http://www.combatstorm.com/
Very simple and a good laugh for use with 54mm figures.

Simple free rules
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=71954

You'll find more advanced rules by researching the sames links as for figures.

Figures

I'm not really up on the manufacturers for ultra modern. If you do some Googling you will soon find some pages that give links to resources for the different scales.

http://www.cowell.org/~andy/min/15mm/
http://saskminigamer.blogspot.com/2007/09/modern-20mm-part-one-british-and-french.html
http://www.sotcw.net/traders.php

Check these out, they could be just what you want!

http://www.wartimeminiatures.com.au/

20mm is a good scale to go with 1/72 scale model kits.

Personally i think if your looking to recreate the whole Iraq conflict thing then Caesar Modern 1/72 is some of the best out there.

Also dragon make some really good modern 1/72 armour

However if your after a bigger 'modern' feeling game then i would suggest you look at 12mm or 10mm as a scale.

http://www.miniaturefigurines.co.uk/Home.aspx - This is one of the best companies out there for 12mm wargaming, and there modern stuff is very good, though it perhaps has a more cold war feel then ultra modern. Also advantages of 12mm is that all N guage stuff such as card buildings for train set ups is the perfect size.

Also if your going for larger battles google 'a fist full of TOWs' its a good free ruleset, very indepth to which is good for the military geeks in all of us.

I think a good spot to start would be matakishi.com. The owner has several reviews of various miniature gaming rulesets for several different scenarios, both historic and fictional. He also has many, many links for miniatures retailers in UK and USA, as well as well-written painting walkthroughs, makeshift terrain ideas, and so much more. Even if you get your iniatures and rules from another site, you should at least give this one a look.