CIA report: Iraq situation is dire

By Jonathan S. Landay
KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE

WASHINGTON - A new, top-secret CIA report from Iraq warns that growing numbers of Iraqis are concluding that the U.S.-led coalition can be defeated and are supporting the resistance.

The report paints a bleak picture of the political and security situation in Iraq and cautions that the U.S.-led drive to rebuild the country as a democracy could collapse unless corrective actions are taken immediately.

L. Paul Bremer, head of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, who arrived unexpectedly in Washington for strategy sessions Tuesday, essentially endorsed the CIA's findings, said a senior administration official.

The report's bleak tone and Bremer's private endorsement differ sharply from the upbeat public assessments President Bush, his chief aides and Bremer are giving as part of an aggressive publicity campaign aimed at countering rising anxieties at home over increasing U.S. casualties in Iraq.

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