The National Intelligence Assessment on Iraq is due to be released Thursday afternoon. The official discussed it on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it on the record.
He said the report will find there has been "some progress with Sunnis" fighting against al-Qaida. Sunni insurgents in some areas have turned on al-Qaida in a program in which U.S. commanders negotiate cease-fires and try to incorporate the fighters into Iraqi government security forces.
The report also warns, as some commanders on the ground have, that extremists could attempt sensational attacks to create a "mini-Tet"_ a reference to the 1968 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Tet offensive that undermined public support for the Vietnam War in the United States.
The assessment also expresses deep doubts that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can overcome sectarian divisions and meet benchmarks intended to promote political unity, The New York Times reported in Thursday editions. The report cited unidentified officials.
Some progress on the military front; slow political progress at the national level despite local defections of Sunni insurgents; and the possibility that the enemy will attack to shape domestic perceptions when the September report is digested by Congress.
We pay billions of dollars per year for this type of insight available from watching even CNN?
To be fair, this is a NYT report about the assessment. The Times is perfectly capable of misreading and misreporting pretty much anything but an opera or the latest fall fashions.
I'll wait for the actual publicly available portions before I mock it too much.
