Iraq's army, despite measurable progress, will be unable to take over internal security from U.S. forces in the next 12 to 18 months and "cannot yet meaningfully contribute to denying terrorists safe haven," according to a report on the Iraqi security forces published today.
Maliki told me they'd be ready by the end of 2007.
And almost two years ago Bush told me that "steady progress" was being made in training them.
(We may remember, just a couple of Friedmans ago, the whole purpose of staying in Iraq was to train the Iraq army to "stand up so we could stand down." Haven't heard any of that lately)