BENCHMARKS REPORT FROM McCLATCHY

WASHINGTON — Here is the full list of 18 benchmarks set by Congress in May, with a short description by McClatchy of the status of each.

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Excerpts:

(9) Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations.

The Iraqi government has provided three brigades, but they are not fully manned.

(11) Ensuring that the Iraqi Security Forces are providing even-handed enforcement of the law.

The Iraqi Security Forces are largely Shiite, and Baghdad's Sunnis complain that they still operate along sectarian lines. There is considerable evidence that members of those forces participate in sectarian violence.

(15) Increasing the number of Iraqi security forces units capable of operating independently.

There is nothing to suggest that more Iraqi forces can operate independently since the surge. Indeed, as many as two-thirds of units do not show up at their posts. And this week the Iraqi government, frustrated by its security forces inability to prevail, encouraged residents to take up arms and defend their communities.