Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki declared Saturday that Iraqi forces could secure the country on their own “any time” American troops decided to withdraw, his first response to the White House report this week that found his government falling well short of many political reforms and military goals sought by Congress.
Maliki has been under attack by American officials and many Iraqi politicians for leading a government mired in disputes and unable to make progress on  legislations seen as crucial to stabilising the country.
Support is growing in Congress for an American troop pullout that would leave Iraqi forces that are already plagued with sectarianism, absenteeism and other problems to battle the Sunni Arab insurgents and Shiite militias that dominate parts of the country. The White House report found that Iraq failed to make satisfactory progress meeting 8 out of 18 major milestones, such as passing an oil revenue-sharing law and ending favoritism in the security forces.
“We say with confidence that we are capable, God willing, of taking full responsibility for the security file if the international forces withdraw in any time they wish,” Maliki said.
That seemed at odds with statements by senior American military commanders that efforts to train Iraqi forces had actually slowed during the five-month-old Baghdad security plan.
At a news conference  Maliki said, “The government is serious about increasing the number of armed forces  and buying weapons so the forces are more capable of handling security at the minute” American-led forces leave.”

UK TO WITHDRAW TOO
London, The Observer: British forces in Iraq are preparing to withdraw their remaining troops to the airport base in Basra in the south of the country in August, handing over control of the last province they control to Iraqi forces.
If their most optimistic forecasts are realised, only 1,500 British troops will remain in the country by the end of the year, defence officials told The Observer this weekend.
The government is expected to outline details of the troop withdrawals this week. Troop numbers will be cut by 500 to 5,000 as 4 Mechanised Brigade becomes the lead brigade in Iraq from September. The troop reductions would free up soldiers for Afghanistan.