Bush to Hear Military's Concerns on IraqBy ROBERT BURNS and PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press Writers
The Associated Press
Published Friday | August 31, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) - President
Bush is expected to hear deep concerns Friday from top Pentagon generals about continuing the military buildup in Iraq, as yet another grim independent report emerges finding lack of progress in the conflict.
Iraq was to be the main topic at a meeting so Bush could hear assessments from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Two independent assessments already have been previewed this week -
the latest finding that Iraq's national police are so corrupt and tainted by sectarianism that the corps should be scrapped and replaced with a smaller force.An independent commission established by Congress to study Iraq's security forces will recommend starting over and reshaping the troubled 25,000-member police organization with a more elite force, a defense official said Friday.
The report from a commission headed by the former commander of U.S. troops in Europe, retired Gen. James Jones, is to be presented to Congress next week but was briefed to Gates and other officials this week, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not been publicly released.
It followed circulation of a draft report by the auditing arm of Congress that found the Iraqi government has failed to meet political and security goals. A third report - by the nation's intelligence agencies last week - found there has been some progress, but that violence remains high, the Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months and its security forces have not improved enough to operate without outside help.more
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