"Now Iraq needs additional support to break the momentum of extremist groups and bolster the capabilities of Iraqi security forces," he said.
American officials noted the vast difference in the level of violence from two years ago and the increasing capabilities of Iraqi security forces.
The onslaught has raised questions among Iraqis about the capabilities of their security forces without the aid of the American military.
The capabilities of Afghan security forces "have greatly increased over the past two years," according to the report, an assessment counterbalanced by a statement that domestic security "has yet to demonstrate the ability to operate independently on a nationwide scale".
In what it describes as its key recommendation, it calls for all the current legislation governing the intrusive capabilities of the security and intelligence agencies to be replaced by a new, single act of parliament.
The memo dated Oct. 8 from Les Brownlee, the acting Army secretary, makes clear that those reductions would not be taken until the insurgency in Iraq diminishes and the capabilities of Iraqi security forces improves.
KABUL, Afghanistan — In what appeared to be a concerted effort to test the capabilities of Afghan security forces in the capital, Taliban insurgents sought to penetrate the heavily fortified heart of Kabul on Friday, blasting their way into a residential compound of the International Organization for Migration, an agency that has worked with the United Nations.
Mr Obama told reporters on Friday that he "will not be sending US troops back into Iraq", but that Iraq needed additional support to "break the momentum of extremist groups and bolster the capabilities of Iraqi security forces".
The IP bill is the government's attempt to update and extend the surveillance capabilities of the security and intelligence agencies — replacing the long-in-the-tooth patchwork of legislation currently used to authorize intercepts with a clearer legal framework.
They are also the first generation to question the capabilities of Social Security, and saw their employers adapt the 401k on a wide scale as they began entering the workforce in the mid to late 1980s, making them the "401k generation".
