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conditions in Iraq are wearing out equipment more quickly than
anticipated, many units do not have fully functional equipment for
training when they redeploy to the United States. An extraordinary
amount of sacrifice has been asked of our men and women in uniform,
and of their families. The American military has little reserve force
to call on if it needs ground forces to respond to other crises around
the world.

A primary mission of U.S. military strategy in Iraq is the training of
competent Iraqi security forces. By the end of 2006, the Multi-National
Security Transition Command-Iraq under American leadership is
expected to have trained and equipped a target number of approximately
326,000 Iraqi security services. That figure includes 138,000 members
of the Iraqi Army and 188,000 Iraqi police. Iraqis have operational
control over roughly one-third of Iraqi security forces; the U.S. has
operational control over most of the rest. No U.S. forces are under
Iraqi command.

The Iraqi Army

The Iraqi Army is making fitful progress toward becoming a reliable
and disciplined fighting force loyal to the national government. By
the end of 2006, the Iraqi Army is expected to comprise 118 battalions
formed into 36 brigades under the command of 10 divisions. Although
the Army is one of the more professional Iraqi institutions, its
performance has been uneven. The training numbers are impressive, but
they represent only part of the story.

Significant questions remain about the ethnic composition and
loyalties of some Iraqi units--specifically, whether they will carry
out missions on behalf of national goals instead of a sectarian
agenda. Of Iraq's 10 planned divisions, those that are even-numbered
are made up of Iraqis who signed up to serve in a specific area, and
they have been reluctant to redeploy to other areas of the country. As
a result, elements of the Army have refused to carry out missions.

The Iraqi Army is also confronted by several other significant
challenges:

--Units lack leadership. They lack the ability to work together and
perform at higher levels of organization--the brigade and division
level. Leadership training and the experience of leadership are the
essential elements to improve performance.

--Units lack equipment. They cannot carry out their missions without
adequate equipment. Congress has been generous in funding requests for
U.S. troops, but it has resisted fully funding Iraqi forces