Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has warned that its presence in Iraq was in danger.

A classified military assessment ordered by the administration of President Barack Obama determined that U.S. special operations forces could be targeted in Iraq. The assessment said U.S. advisers could not be embedded in at least half of the Iraqi military for fear of assassination by Al Qaida or Iranian agents.

“It’s a mess,” a senior administration official said.

The official, briefed on the draft assessment, told the New York Times on July 13 that the 120-page review warned that the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki was now heavily dependent on Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias to defend against Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. The review also cited the significant presence of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Most of the Iraqi military, including five divisions, was said to have deteriorated. The report, expected to be submitted to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in mid-July, said U.S. military advisers might make a difference in about 50 percent of Iraqi units.

The administration has built up a force of nearly 1,000 advisers and other military personnel in Iraq. So far, the U.S. military has established two joint operations centers as well as a fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft at Baghdad International Airport to defend the U.S. embassy from ISIL attack.

“Though the initial work of the assessment teams is largely complete, senior leaders have yet to formally receive or review it,” Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Officials said the assessment, which took two weeks to prepare, reviewed all of the brigades in the Iraq Army. They said the Iraq Army was deemed capable of defending most of Baghdad from ISIL.

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