In an August 16 report, titled "Gauging Iraqi Readiness Centers on 'Feel,' " The Wall Street Journal reported a Pentagon estimate -- based partially on “subjective assessments” -- of the number of Iraqi troops capable of engaging in counterinsurgency operations when backed by U.S. forces. But the Journal failed to note a recent assessment the Pentagon sent to Congress indicating that a far smaller number are capable of engaging in counterinsurgency operations without U.S. support. Further, the Journal reported the Pentagon's estimated number of “trained and equipped Iraqi soldiers and police” without mentioning that the figure includes many Iraqis who have received only the most basic training and equipment.

Based on “a new system for evaluating Iraqi security forces that relies heavily on 'feel,' mixing hard data with subjective assessments from U.S. advisers who live and fight with the Iraqis,” the Journal reported the Pentagon's estimate that “more than three dozen of the 110 Iraqi battalions” are capable of engaging in operations, “albeit with U.S. forces providing some logistics and medical support.” The Journal report acknowledged that the new system has “pitfalls”:

The new system has its own potential pitfalls, however. One U.S. officer involved in Iraq policy says he fears that pressure from Washington to show progress can skew subjective evaluations. Moreover, the U.S. advisers themselves may be hesitant to admit that their time training troops in Iraq hasn't been productive.

But the Journal neglected to mention that the Pentagon recently gave Congress an estimate of Iraqi troop readiness that indicates a far smaller number of Iraqis capable of leading counterinsurgency operations without U.S. support. The Pentagon's report to Congress -- the unclassified portion of which was publicly released on July 21 -- lays out criteria for grading Iraqi military units on a scale of one to four, with “level one” indicating that a unit is “capable of planning, executing, and sustaining counterinsurgency operations independent of Coalition forces.” Although unit grades are classified and are not included in the public version of the report, The New York Times reported on July 21 that, according to “American commanders,” only three of the 107 existing Iraqi military and paramilitary battalions had reached “level one” status by the end of June.

Further, when the Journal reported that "[t]oday U.S. commanders say there are 178,000 trained and equipped Iraqi soldiers and police," it noted only that "[s]ome military analysts worry that the U.S. definition of 'trained and equipped' is still lacking." In fact, the Pentagon itself has acknowledged that its tally of “trained and equipped” soldiers includes Iraqis who have not received extensive training or advanced equipment. According to the Pentagon's report to Congress, roughly 171,300 members of the Iraqi armed forces had “completed individual entry training” and were “equipped with basic equipment.”