Iraq is making satisfactory progress on just nine of 18 political and security benchmarks set by the US Congress, the White House said Friday, hours after President George W. Bush announced a partial troop withdrawal.
The latest report comes after Bush, rejecting calls for a swifter troop pullout, told war-weary Americans in a televised address late Thursday that the troop "surge" strategy that he announced in January was working.
"Because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home," Bush said. "The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home."
He announced some 21,500 soldiers deployed in Iraq would be pulled out by mid-2008. But the US president warned that whoever succeeds him at the White House will likely inherit the conflict and urged against giving up on a fledgling ally that is "fighting for its survival."
With most public opinion polls showing the US public two-to-one opposed to his strategy, and his Democratic foes clamoring for a withdrawal, Bush defiantly said he would build "an enduring relationship" with Iraq.
Iraqi leaders "understand that their success will require US political, economic, and security engagement that extends beyond my presidency," said Bush, whose term ends in January 2009.
"These Iraqi leaders have asked for an enduring relationship with America. And we are ready to begin building that relationship in a way that protects our interests in the region and requires many fewer American troops," he said.
The president said that he was following advice from the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, that he should bring some 5,700 troops home by Christmas and a total of 21,500 troops by mid-2008.
That would leave about 130,000 troops in Iraq, roughly the number in December 2006, one month before he escalated US force levels in a thus-far failed effort to give Iraq's leaders room to reach key political compromises.
Overall, the latest assessment by the White House showed satisfactory progress on nine benchmarks, mixed progress on four more, unsatisfactory on three, and said two cannot be assessed because the preconditions for progress do not exist.
The report also echoed Bush's own dissatisfaction with the pace of progress towards passing key legislation aimed at forging national unity and quelling sectarian violence.
"Political progress at the national level has still been disappointing. The natural tension between groups has been exacerbated by political blocs threatening to withdraw support from the government," it said. "These threats were not fully carried out in most cases, but they have contributed to an environment of mistrust and gridlock," according to the report.
The US Congress is poised once again to take up Democratic efforts to end the war, with presidential contenders facing tough questions on what they would do if elected in November 2008.
Democratic Senator Jack Reed said: "An endless and unlimited military presence in Iraq is not an option. It was "time to change course," he added, urging support for "a plan to responsibly and rapidly begin a reduction of our troops in Iraq."
Democrats vying to succeed Bush also criticised his plan. "I continue to implore the president to change course, bring our troops home faster, and end this war responsibly as soon as possible," said Senator Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
But Republican leaders defended the president's strategy. "Congress is faced with a stark choice: either rally behind the proven, responsible strategy set forth by General Petraeus and bring our troops home after victory, or demand an irresponsible, precipitous withdrawal that will force our troops to leave in defeat," said House Republican minority leader John Boehner, who has just visited Iraq.