(WASHINGTON (AP)) - The Iraqi government is achieving only spotty
military and political progress, the Bush administration conceded
Thursday in an assessment that war critics quickly seized on as
confirmation of their dire warnings.

Within hours, the House voted to withdraw U.S. troops. The House measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September. The bill would require troops to start withdrawing within 120 days, and be completed by April, 2008.

Northeast Indiana Congressman Mark Souder voted against the bill, but tells Indiana's NewsCenter's Ryan Elijah he was close to siding with Democrats this time. The Republican indicates he would have voted for it if the deadline to complete the troop withdrawal was set for next November instead of next April. Souder said "I've talked with the leadership who are working with this on the Democratic side. Their left wing will not let them put the number that they know needs to be there. So today's resolution I could not support. But basically, it's a direction we're headed."

Indiana's other Republican Congressional representatives voted against the troop withdrawal bill, while the Democrat reps for Indiana voted for the bill.

Prior to the vote, President Bush held a White House news conference and described a document produced by his administration at
Congress' insistence. He said there was satisfactory progress by
the Iraqi government toward meeting eight of 18 so-called
benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on eight more and mixed results
on the rest.

To his critics _ including an increasing number of Republicans _
he said bluntly, "I don't think Congress ought to be running the
war. I think they ought to be funding the troops."

Democrats saw it differently. A few hours after Bush's remarks, Democratic leaders engineered passage of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops to begin within 120 days, and to be completed by April 1, 2008. The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis, protect U.S. assets and fight al-Qaida and other
terrorists.

The vote generally followed party lines: 219 Democrats and four
Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10 Democrats opposed.

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., voted for troop withdrawals for the
first time, contending that while she still opposes a swift
pullout, "staying in Iraq indefinitely is equally unacceptable."

"The report makes clear that not even the White House can
conclude there has been significant progress," said House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

To Bush and others who seek more time for the administration's
policy to work, she said, "We have already waited too long."

Republicans sided with Bush _ at least for now. The bill
"undermines Gen. Petraeus, undermines the mission he has to make
America and Iraq safe," said the House GOP leader, Rep. John
Boehner of Ohio. "What we have here is not leadership, it's
negligence."

The 25-page administration report was issued in the fifth year
of a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,600 U.S. troops
and is costing U.S. taxpayers an estimated $10 billion a month.

Bush announced last winter he was ordering thousands of
additional troops to the war zone, but the full complement has only
arrived in recent weeks. "The full surge in this respect has only
just begun," the report said.

It warned of "tough fighting" during the summer as U.S. and
Iraqi forces "seek to seize the initiative from early gains and
shape conditions of longer-term stabilization."

The president sampled the report at his nationally televised
session with reporters.

"Iraqis have provided the three brigades they promised for
operations in and around Baghdad. And the Iraqi government is
spending nearly $7.3 billion from its own funds this year to train,
equip and modernize its forces," he said.

But in other areas, he added, they "have much more work to do.
For example, they've not done enough to prepare for local elections
or pass a law to share oil revenues."

The report was blunt at points and more opaque at others.

While Iraq has begun to show progress in providing services,
"citizens nationwide complain about government corruption and the
lack of essential services, such as electricity, fuel supply,
sewer, water, health and sanitation."

At another point, it added, "The prerequisites for a successful
militia disarmament program are not present."

In addition to citing a Syrian connection for terrorists, it
also said Iran has continued to foster instability in Iraq.

It cited measured progress on the economic front. "Unemployment
has eased slightly and inflation is currently abating," the report
said. It omitted mention of a June 1 Pentagon report estimating an
annual inflation rate at 33 percent and the Iraqi government
estimate of joblessness at 17 percent.

In an evident jab at critics of Bush's war policies, the report
also said progress toward political reconciliation was hampered by
"increasing concern among Iraqi political leaders that the United
States may not have a long term-commitment to Iraq."

Despite rising pressure from Republicans in Congress for a
change in course, Bush was adamant.

"When we start drawing down our forces in Iraq, it will (be)
because our military commanders say the conditions on the ground
are right, not because pollsters say it'll be good politics," he
said.

Before Thursday's House vote, GOP aides said they hoped to
suffer only a few party defections, but the administration faced a
more volatile situation in the Senate. There, three Republicans
have already said they intend to vote for a separate withdrawal
measure, and several others have signed on as supporters of a
bipartisan bill to implement a series of changes recommended last
winter by the Iraq Study Group.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who announced his intention to seek
a change in policy last week, issued a statement that said the
administration's most recent assessment "confirms my worst fears
that while the Iraqi government is making some progress on some
benchmarks, it's not moving fast enough to make meaningful or
lasting progress."

Even so, it appears the president's allies have the support to
block a final Senate vote in a showdown expected next week.

If the report changed any minds in Congress, it was not
immediately apparent.

"It is time for the president to listen to the American people
and do what is necessary to protect this nation. That means
admitting his Iraq policy has failed, working with the Democrats
and Republicans in Congress on crafting a new way forward in Iraq
and refocusing our collective efforts on defeating al-Qaida," said
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

But Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader,
said Congress has already decided it will be September before the
administration's strategy can be evaluated properly. "Certainly
the young soldiers and Marines risking their lives today on the
streets of Baghdad and Ramadi would agree _ and they deserve our
patience."