Prometheus 6

Although the Iraqi government has had little success in meeting 18 formal benchmarks designated by Congress, the Bush administration believes U.S. military forces have improved the security of Iraqi citizens and that additional progress will be evident by September.

U.S. military wants new date to assess buildup: November
By Julian E. Barnes and Paul Richter
Times Staff Writers
July 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and U.S. military officials predicted Thursday that a key September report would show progress in Iraq, but that it would be November before they could judge the success of the troop buildup.

The comments — coming a day after congressional Democrats failed to force a change in the U.S. war strategy — were a new indication that the White House planned to seek still more time for its troop "surge" to stabilize the situation in Iraq.