Congress Report Finds Iraq Failing On Goals

Iraq has met only three out of 18 goals set by Washington, D.C. for political and security progress. The preliminary findings by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, are at odds with a more positive assessment the White House gave in July that Iraq had met eight out of 18 benchmarks. The report, which the Washington Post described as "strikingly negative", is due to be delivered to Congress on Tuesday, ahead of a pivotal report on Iraq by the U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and ambassador Ryan Crocker due by September 15.

President George W. Bush, under growing pressure to show progress in the unpopular four-year-old war or start bringing U.S. troops home, is urging Congress to give his "surge" strategy of adding troops in Baghdad more time. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are there on the ground every day in Iraq, and it's important to wait to hear what they have to say." Mr. Johndroe added, "While we've all seen progress in some areas, especially on the security front, it's not surprising the GAO would make this assessment, given the difficult congressionally mandated measurement they had to follow." Legislation signed by President Bush in May imposed a stricter standard on the General Accountability Office, requiring a success or fail judgment on each benchmark.

The GAO's draft report judged that only one of eight political benchmarks had been met, while two security goals were achieved. Two further benchmarks -- the formation of governmental regions and the allocation and expenditure of $10 billion for reconstruction -- were deemed to have only been "partially met."