General's Report on Iraq Progress Has Competition

By DAVID E. SANGER and THOM SHANKER

Published: June 24, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 23 - Last month, Congress set a deadline for the American commander in Iraq, declaring that by Sept. 15 he would have to assess progress there before billions more dollars are approved to finance the military effort to stabilize the country. The commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, said in recent days that his report would be only a snapshot of trends, strongly suggesting he will be asking for more time.

But even before he composes the first sentences of the report, to be written with the new American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan C. Crocker, the administration is commissioning other assessments that could dilute its conclusions about the impact of the current troop increase. The intent appears to be to give Mr. Bush, who publicly puts great emphasis on listening to his field commanders, a wide range of options.

The assessments are likely to conclude that the Iraqi government has failed to use the troop increase for the purpose the president intended, to strike the political accommodations that he said would stabilize the country. That and other views expected in the various reports could also provide some rationale for beginning a reduction of troops in Iraq under conditions far short of the "victory" President Bush, for the past four years, has said was his ultimate goal. Mr. Bush has used that word with far less frequency recently.

General’s Iraq Progress Report Has Competition