White House sees progress,'tough challenges' ahead in Iraq

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CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 24 (AFP): The White House said Thursday that a US intelligence assessment of the situation in Iraq shows progress on the security and political fronts but "very tough challenges" ahead.
"The National Intelligence Estimate's updated judgments show that our strategy has improved the security environment in Iraq, but we still face very tough challenges ahead," said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
"The administration continues to support the efforts of (Iraqi) Prime Minister (Nuri al-) Maliki, the presidency council, and Iraqi political leaders representing Sunni, Shia and Kurds as they meet in Baghdad now to reach agreement on how they will work together for a more stable and secure Iraq."
US President George W. Bush, here on his Texas ranch, was briefed Monday on the classified NIE, which represents the consensus judgment of all 16 US intelligence agencies, said Johndroe.
Bush considers its findings "not entirely surprising," and sees "encouraging signs" on the security front" but "many challenges ahead" in terms of forging elusive national reconciliation to dampen bloody sectarian violence, he said.
The US-led security crackdown in Iraq "has begun to slow the rapidly increasing violence and patterns of the violence" there, and "this change is a necessary precondition to the stability and increased political reconciliation that we all seek," said Johndroe.
Johndroe noted that a key next step is the September 15 report from the White House-based partly on findings by the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the US ambassador there, Ryan Crocker-to Congress.
But Bush is no more inclined now to heed calls to set a timetable for a withdrawal of at least some of the 160,000 US soldiers in Iraq, the spokesman told reporters.
"I think it's inappropriate for me to say from here right now what the president will or will not consider," he said. "I don't think that the president feels any differently about setting a specific timetable."
Powerful Republican Senator John Warner, fresh from meetings with US military officials and Iraqi leaders, earlier called on Bush to announce on September 15 "the first step in the withdrawal of our forces."
Johndroe acknowledged the bleak picture of political progress in Iraq, with the report warning that Maliki's government is set to weaken over the next six to 12 months amid a logjam on key steps in creating national unity.
"We know that there are significant challenges ahead, especially in the political area," he said. "It is frustrating but it's not surprising that the political reconciliation is lagging behind the security improvements."