ANOTHER IRAQI OFFICIAL SPEAKS OUT

The Deputy Prime Minister has said that reconciliation won't take place even by NEXT September and the Foreign Minister warns us not to expect any wonders from the Petraeus report.

Iraqi Official: No `magical' Fix Ahead
Aug 31, 2:46 AM (ET)
By ROBERT H. REID


BAGHDAD (AP) - A senior Iraqi official cautioned Thursday against expecting "magical solutions" from the upcoming reports to Congress on military and political progress in Iraq and acknowledged the Iraqis are still not ready to defend the country on their own.

The assessments by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari touched on some of the core U.S. frustrations expected in next month's report: the inability of Iraq's leaders to put aside their political feuds and make strides toward creating a credible security force to allow a possible American withdrawal.

At a news conference, Zebari insisted that Iraq has been making some headway in resolving political differences, despite defections by the main Sunni Arab bloc and a hard-line Shiite faction.

"The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what this report will indicate," Zebari said. "I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions or provide any instant answers to the difficulties and challenges we are going through."

Zebari, a Kurd, cited an agreement reached last weekend by the country's five leading political leaders, who pledged to work for parliamentary approval of landmark legislation demanded by Washington.

"I am hopeful that come September 11 or 12 you will see more political progress," Zebari said without elaborating.

In the meantime, Iraqis need help from U.S. and other international forces because the capabilities of Iraqi security forces "are not up to what is desired."

Via Atrios I learned that Kevin Drum made a post about yet another dismal report about Iraq. This time it's about the Iraqi police and it recommends that the entire force "be scrapped" because it is hopelessly sectarian. It would be interesting to go back and list how many times Rice and Rumsfeld boasted about the progress of the Iraqi police.