U.S. intelligence report offers dim view of Iraqi leadership.(Inside Track)(Prospects for Iraq's Stability: Some Security Progress but Political Reconciliation Elusive)(Brief article)

The August 23 release of the National Intelligence Assessment about the Iraq War could hardly have been viewed with joy by the Bush administration. Representing the consensus view of our nation's 16 intelligence agencies, the report described the Bush-favored Iraqi government of Nuri al-Maliki as "unable to govern effectively."

Focusing on the deep sectarian rifts that continue to spur Sunni-Shiite violence, the document credited the American forces with only slight success in reducing the number of bombings. Recognizing that plans exist to begin withdrawing some of the U.S. forces next spring, the intelligence experts did warn against any early drawdown of troop levels.

The Bush administration claimed that the document, Prospects for Iraq's Stability: Some Security Progress but Political Reconciliation Elusive, provides evidence that the ...