U.S. spy chief Mike McConnell notes improvement in Iraq's effort to secure their country

(AP) Iraqi troops are taking the lead in securing parts of their country, but much work remains to improve the number and quality of those forces, the nation's newly installed spy chief, Mike McConnell, said Tuesday.

"They are better today than they were a year ago, but they are still not where we need them to be," McConnell told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing on global threats.

Lawmakers were skeptical. "I do not see evidence _ strong evidence _ that the Iraqi forces are measuring up in any manner to what the president laid out on Jan. 10" as part of his new plan for Iraq, said Sen. John Warner, R-Va.

President Bush announced then that he would put the burden on Iraqis to secure their country and that he would send an additional 21,500 troops to work alongside the Iraqis to help secure the country. Warner questioned why additional U.S. troops are being put in harm's way before Iraqi security forces were better prepared.

McConnell said Iraqi forces have taken the lead in some places, including parts of Baghdad. He testified alongside Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who tried to temper expectations.

Maples said the military is in the early stages of the Baghdad security plan: "We are in transition right now."

He said two of the three brigades promised by Iraq have moved into Baghdad, but he acknowledged that those units have only 43 to 82 percent of their intended troops, according to ranges he has seen.

Offering some hope, Maples said, newly appointed Iraqi commander Lt. Gen. Abboud Gambar is taking charge and has not demonstrated a sectarian bias in his approach to his command.

Profound ethnic and sectarian divisions have proven to be the most challenging problems facing the fragile government. Intelligence officials note that no single leader can exert authority over these groups.

The Senate hearing covered a range of threats, including Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Muslim extremists operating along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

Both Republicans and Democrats have grown uneasy about the situation in Iraq, the growing tension with Iran over its nuclear program and U.S. claims that the government in Tehran is meddling in Iraq.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., was skeptical about Iraqis ability to act as the "tip of the spear" in their security and questioned whether political reconciliation on a range of issues can be achieved this year.

"The conflict in Iraq is consuming a large share of our intelligence capabilities, diminishing the ability of the intelligence community to support diplomacy, monitor threats and prepare for other contingencies," Levin said.

Levin has pledged that lawmakers would step up efforts to force the Bush administration to change course in Iraq. But there is little consensus about how exactly to proceed. Democrats have failed to rally around any swift action since they were swept into power in November by voters who wanted to see a new course in Iraq and an end to the war.

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