European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Patolo stars and stripes july 2007 in the states assessment of goals in Iraq mixed by Lolita bal00r and Anne Flaherty the associated press Washington the iraqi government has made mixed Progress toward fulfilling goals for military and economic the Bush administration said in an interim assessment required by the administration accused Syria of fostering a network that supplies As Many As 50 to 80 suicide bombers per month for Al Aida in it also said Iran continues to fund extremist the report said that despite Progress on some fronts by the government of iraqi prime minis Ter Nouri the Security situation in Iraq remains com plex and extremely the economic picture is uneven and political reconciliation is lag in it credited the iraqi government with satisfactory Progress on eight unsatisfactory Progress on another eight and mixed results on the other at the White press Secretary Tony Snow said the fact that satisfactory Progress has been made in several Security see full Iraq report on areas should provide some space for the government of Iraq to make Progress on key political the report also noted a slight reduction since january of the number of iraqi units that can operate this reduction is due to a 20 percent increase in unit authorization Levels meaning the equip ment numbers against which the unit is measured Are a fixed number of equipment sets and training a Lack of offic ers and cos with some provided to less capable units to help stand them combat and the sustainment challenges that come with these the report a senior defense official told re porters thursday that the de crease was not but he did not have figures on the num Ber of iraqi units that can no longer conduct operations on their the official said that while iraqi Security forces remain Loyal to the Central iraqi Al Aida seen regaining strength the associated press new threat assessment from counter Ter dorism analysts says that Al Aida has used its Safe Haven along the afghan Pakistan Border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before a counter terrorism official familiar with a five Page summary of the document titled Al Aida better positioned to strike the West called it a Stark the analysis will be part of a broader meeting at the White House on thursday about an upcoming National intelligence the official and others spoke on condition they not be identified be cause the report remains Classi the suggests that the network that launched the most devastating terror attack on soil has been Able to regroup de spite nearly six years of War and other tactics aimed at Dis mantling it president used the new threat assessment to show his administrations policies Are the right your Hometown readers9 earner blog blocs at ombudsman Dave Mazzarella answers Reader questions about stars and i officials remain concerned that a parallel organization out Side the military and Chain of com Mand within the iraqi govern ment promoting a sectarian Agen there is evidence of target lists emanating from the office of the commander in chief that by passed operational commanders and directed Lowe level Intelli gence officers and commanders to make primarily of Sun the report the office of the commander in chief has been an unhelpful organization in the the offi Cial there have acts and actions taken to improve the relationship inside that office and the actions inside that and we would expect mat that still could use additional the official at a news conference that coincided with the reports president Bush i believe we should succeed in and i know we must in remarks clearly aimed at his he when we Start drawing Down our forces in it will be because our military commanders say the conditions on the ground Are not be cause pollsters say till be Good Ron president Bush Speaks to reporters about the Iraq Progress report during a news conference thursday at the White House in Bush was still answering questions at the White House when Senate majority Leader Harry a it is time for the president to listen to the american people and do what is necessary to protect this that Means admitting his Iraq policy has working with the democrats and republicans in Congress on craning a new Way Forward in and re focusing our collective efforts on defeating he said in a statement the report warned of Tough fighting during the As and iraqi forces seek to seize the initiative from Early gains and shape conditions of longer term while Bush announced last win Ter he was ordering thousands of additional troops to the War the full complement has Only arrived in recent the full surge in this respect has Only just the report stars and stripes Jeff Schogol contributed to this report from the its he we 15am n t a r y o u