WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Pentagon reported to Congress Monday that political progress in Iraq remains stalled despite a surge in US forces, and warned that improvements in security were not enough to win the war.
The quarterly report to Congress on stability and security in Iraq said the surge had led to improvements in security, including a drop in sectarian killing and civilian casualties and a downward trend in attacks.
"Improved security and stability is not enough to win the counterinsurgency," the report said. "Political progress must also be achieved to reinforce and complement progress in securing the Iraqi population."
"There has been little national-level political progress in passing key legislation and implementing government reform," it said.
"Efforts within Iraq's political process to seek consensus remain complicated by continued sectarian divisions and violence that exacerbates those divisions," it said.
The report said the most promising political developments were at the local level, where the US military is pursuing a so-called "bottom up" approach to reconciliation with Sunni insurgents disenchanted with Al-Qaeda.
The findings generally tracked with presentations to Congress last week by General David Petraeus, who proposed a gradual drawdown of US surge forces by July 2008 on the strength of the improved security.
An additional 30,000 US troops were deployed to Iraq starting in February to try to halt a slide toward civil war and give Iraqi political leaders "breathing space" to achieve national reconciliation.
Currently 169,000 US troops are in Iraq.
"As a result of these efforts, there are improvements in measures of security; for example, sectarian killings and civilian casualties have decreased," the report said.
There has been "some improvement" in Iraqis ability to go about their daily life, it said.
"Overall there continues to be a downward trend in total attack incidents with eight of the past 11 weeks since June 15, 2007 showing decreases down to August 2006 levels," it said.
It said the surge has started to create conditions that will allow the government to make reforms and pursue reconciliation initiatives.
But key pieces of legislation aimed at forging reconciliation -- such as a Hydrocarbons Law governing the sharing of oil revenues, and progress on the status of the disputed northern city of Kirkuk -- "will probably remain stalled in the near term," it said.
"Prospects for success in the near term hinge upon the return of key political blocs to the Maliki government," the report said.
The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faced a fresh crisis Monday with the withdrawal of followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr from the main Shiite bloc in parliament.
Sunni ministers bolted from the Maliki government in August, leaving Maliki with a weakened coalition of Shiite and Kurds.
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