New Report Shows Iraq Security Progress

National Intelligence Estimate Differs Little From Previous One, 9 Months Ago

(CBS/AP)  A new classified intelligence assessment on Iraq says there has been significant progress in security since the last assessment was delivered in August, a senior military official said.

In most ways the new National Intelligence Estimate hews closely to the one delivered nine months ago. That document spoke of security gains since the increase in troop levels began in January 2007, the continued high rate of violence and uneven progress on the part of Iraqi security forces.

"It does not differ significantly from August's NIE," a congressional official said in describing the document.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the report is classified. They noted that many of the conclusions of the report are already reflected in public statements and press reports.

Since the August report, Sunni tribes have solidified their resistance to al Qaeda-associated insurgents in Anbar and Diyala provinces, which has weakened the movement.

However, U.S. officials have stressed that al Qaeda remains the most deadly enemy facing the Iraqi people and their coalition allies. On Friday, Iraqi police said a suicide bomber had struck a funeral for a Sunni policeman north of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people and wounding eight.

Police say the attacker detonated an explosives vest in the midst of the mourners at the funeral on Friday. The attack occurred in Sadiyah, a town 60 miles north of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, but suicide bombings are an al Qaeda trademark, and the group frequently targets Iraqi security forces who work with American troops or the American-backed government.

The National Intelligence Estimate is part of a series of periodic reports that offer the best consensus judgment of top analysts at all 16 U.S. spy agencies on major foreign policy, security and global economic issues.

Congress received the new report this week in advance of congressional hearings April 8-9 at which war commander Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are scheduled to testify. Similarly, the August report was delivered shortly before Petraeus' highly anticipated September testimony.

The report does not take into account the recent battle in Basra, the unruly Shiite port city in the south, according to another congressional official.

The central government's recent attempt at cracking down on lawless militias there, especially those that profess loyalty to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, could be a turning point for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government in Baghdad. Maliki, also a Shiite, abruptly dispatched his interior ministry and military forces to Basra last week to confront the militias and assert Baghdad's authority over the area.

In a departure from the January and August 2007 intelligence estimates, the intelligence agencies have declined to release an unclassified summary of its key points. National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell decided last fall that NIEs should not as a rule include an unclassified section because he believes analysts are less likely to be forthright in their writing if they believe the language will become public.

Late Thursday, Democratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called for McConnell to release a summary, saying in a letter that the information "is critical to the public debate in the coming weeks and months."

[tawpdawg1]

Are you kiddin'' me ? They just got their a ss kicked down in Basra. There is explosives being tossed over the green zone wall every day. I don''t think we can stand it if it gets any better.

[gce65]

How many NEI''s have we had done SINCE Invading Iraq? And we didn''t even have one in the lead-up to the war until Congress demanded one.
This NEI is craaap! It''s just propaganda so Bush and Cheney can wave it around and tell everyone how great they''re doing in the FAILED WAR.

[rowdytexan2]

I mean, get real, just look at the picture up there. The guy is hiding behind a door, wearing camaflage and carring an ouzi or something. He obviously feels real secure!!! And this guy is not doing drills on base, he''s on your average street, pro''bly on his way to the grocery store, or escorting someone to the grocery store.

When people can walk down the streets of Iraq and not have to have 30-40 soldiers standing around with ouzi''s, then Iraq will be secure.

Until then, you people have failed!

[incog-nito]

"National Intelligence Estimate Differs Little From Previous One, 9 Months Ago"

If the situation is virtually identical to that nine months ago, as the article repeatedly states, where is the progress?

[jjp735i]

Bush and Friends wrote the report so how much truth can the report contain? I am sure we will hear of more reports like this and more terror threats as the election comes ever closer. How can anyone trust anything coming from the White House after all the lies we already have been told?

[tawpdawg1]

liberalbias1 - Thanks for posting your research results and fine opinions for everyone to see. I have been all about Obama for a long time now, since the speech at ''04 convention and am thankful that he decided to volunteer for the daunting task of turning America back to its once-proud self. Your stats just reaffirm my faith that he is the ONLY one for this task...no more GOP and no more Clintons. He will need much help and the louder the signal that we patriots send on election day, the less difficult his task will be. Please, voters, throw the BUMS out and get on Barack''s coattails. Send the message. Send it loud and clear. At the top of our lungs....... YES WE CAN!!

[cfin5]

Obama? What change are you talking about? Since he''s been a Senator he hardly shows up to (WORK) vote! If we don''t show up for work we get FIRED! Oh I see, no record to pin him down with while campaigning huh. "NO SHOW" Obama sure has worked hard for change since elected. Yeah he''s a genuine affirmative action Senator,.....literally.

[rowdytexan2]

Well, hell, evidently it''s not so *** classified if CBS knows about it!

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by liberalbias1 at 08:38 AM : Apr 04, 2008

Your post is for ALL soldiers that died. This figure has nothing to do with combat and war. Whatta joke!

[demwatcher]

And that pinhead Biden just released (another) statement that the surge failed.

Why is that ignorant dumbarse is still a Senator?

[ioweign]

And that pinhead Biden just released (another) statement that the surge failed.

Why is that ignorant dumbarse is still a Senator?

Posted by DemWatcher at 01:50 PM : Apr 05, 2008

He is still a Senator because his "pinhead" has more intelligence than all the Bush "airheads" put together. The surge (escalation) was a tactic to give the Iraqi government time to accomplish goals. Have they been accomplished, will they be accomplished, can they be accomplished. It is their civil war let them enjoy it...

[j-whitman]

I keep expecting to see Old John McBush & the GOP Dance Troup come out & start singing;

It''s a world of laughter
A world of tears
It''s a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There''s so much that we share
That it''s time we''re aware
It''s a small world after all