Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'

The Iraqi government has failed to meet most of the key political and military goals—the so called benchmarks—designed to measure the success of the US troop surge, congressional auditors say. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office has concluded that 13 of the 18 benchmarks remain unmet as a Sept. 15 deadline looms, the AP reports.

Lawmakers are due to be briefed on the report today. The White House moved swiftly to counter its impact, saying it fails to take account of progress toward goals that have not been fully met. "A lot of them are multi-part and so even if 90% of it is done, it's still a failure," one official said. (More Iraq stories.)