WASHINGTON, Aug 30: A US government report sent to Congress presents a “strikingly negative” picture of the situation in Iraq.

The report from the Government Accountability Office, notes that at least 13 of the 18 benchmarks set to judge the Iraqi government’s performance in the political and security arenas haven’t been met.

The GAO report – published partly in The Washington Post – also questions a more optimistic report the Bush administration sent to Congress in July.

The new report rejects the administration’s claim that the US-backed government in Iraq had trained enough Iraqi brigades to replace US troops and had ensured that areas of Baghdad do not fall into the hands of militants.

One of eight political benchmarks — the protection of the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature — has been achieved, according to the draft. On the others, including legislation on constitutional reform, new oil laws and de-Baathification, it assesses failure.

The GAO report points out that “while the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, US agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced.”

The report acknowledges that attacks on US forces had decreased; attacks against Iraqi civilians remain unchanged. It also found that “the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved.”

Overall, the draft report, titled “Securing, Stabilising and Rebuilding Iraq,” says that the Iraqi government has met only two security benchmarks. It contradicts the Bush administration’s conclusion in July that sectarian violence was decreasing as a result of the US military’s stepped-up operations in Baghdad this year.

“The average number of daily attacks against civilians remained about the same over the last six months; 25 in February versus 26 in July,” the GAO draft states.