Iraq's police forces are plagued by militant and insurgent infiltrators and are sorely lacking in training and equipment, a congressional report released Thursday said according to DPA. The report also faulted the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which oversees the country's policing operation, for being "dysfunctional and sectarian" and a "ministry in name only." The commission, consisting of retired military officers and former senior officials, was set up by Congress to assess the state of Iraqi security forces that also included the army. While the Iraqi army has made significant progress in training and equipping, it, like with police forces, won't be able to operate independently of the US military in the next 12-18 months. "This Iraqi army cannot yet operate independently, due to a continuing lack of logistics, supply, mobility and effective national command and control," James Jones, a former general and top NATO military commander who chaired the commission, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Jones emphasized the need for Iraq's leaders to foster political reconciliation between the country's rival ethnic and religious groups as essential for improving the effectiveness of security forces. The Jones report comes days ahead of congressional testimony by US President George W Bush's top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus. Petraeus' testimony and written assessment of the security and political situation in Iraq along with that of ambassador Ryan Crocker, is seen as the most important of a series of reports during the last two months. A bleak assessment by Petraeus could further weaken support for Bush's strategy in Iraq and the recent expansion of the US military presence there. The Democratic controlled Congress has urged Bush to begin withdrawing US forces and some Republicans have expressed reservations about Bush's approach. Some have sided with Democrats in trying to pass legislation that would impose deadlines on the US military role. The White House is expected to release the Petraeus report next week. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress' investigative arm, published a report this week disputing earlier findings by the Bush administration on the progress being made by the Iraqi government. The White House had concluded that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government met eight of the 18 objectives set by Congress. The GAO had found the only three of the goals had been achieved. The GAO and White House had concluded that little progress was being made on two key objectives: an oil law to ensure revenue is distributed fairly among Iraq's ethnic and religious groups and political reconciliation to diminish tension between Shiite and Sunni Arabs, and Kurds.
