At the Pentagon, spokesman Lawrence Di Rita acknowledged that Iraqi forces have fallen short of expectations, even though they are gradually assuming a larger role in Iraq's security.
"There's areas where the Iraqi security forces have performed well. There's areas where they've performed suboptimally, you know, not as well. There's areas where they've been overwhelmed by their opposition and have had to step back and live to fight another day. And there's areas where they've just plain not participated in the fight," he told reporters.
Campaign posters in Baghdad promote Iraq's Jan. 30 elections. The Bush administration is urging the Arab League and Sunni leaders to mobilize Sunni voters.
(Zohra Bensemra -- Reuters)
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Video: President Bush today rejected growing pessimism in the U.S. foreign policy establishment about stability in Iraq by saying the the upcoming Iraqi elections "will lead to peace."
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Bush said Luck's assessment team is going to Iraq to ensure that a "focused, determined strategy" to help the new government "stand up the forces necessary to defend themselves," since the ultimate test of the new Iraq will be the willingness of its citizens to "fight for their own freedom."
Luck, who has been tapped by several top generals in Iraq for guidance, has visited the country about half a dozen times since major combat operations began in March 2003. He was an adviser to Gen. Tommy R. Franks during the invasion.
To boost the election turnout, the administration is working with Arab leaders to get them to tap into Iraq's Sunni community, tribal networks, former exiles based in their countries and other informal channels to urge Sunni participation. Washington is also campaigning behind the scenes for a resolution at a Jan. 12 meeting of the Arab League, which is dominated by Sunni leaders, calling on all Iraqis to vote.
In Iraq, Kurds and Shiites are reaching out to Sunni tribal elders, "sitting down with them and trying to encourage Sunnis to fully participate," Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage told Egyptian television yesterday.
Interim Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar, a Sunni leader of a mixed Sunni-Shiite tribe, is also trying to organize a meeting of Sunni leaders next weekend to rally Sunni voters, Western diplomats said.
The United States and Britain have helped organize the new International Mission for Elections in Iraq to oversee the transition to democracy over the next year, U.S. and Canadian officials said. Led by Jean-Pierre Kingsley, the chief of Elections Canada, the team includes members from Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Panama and Yemen.
Staff writer Bradley Graham contributed to this report.
