Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about one-third of Iraqi soldiers and police are capable of fighting Shi'ite or Sunni insurgents. Myers said the U.S.-led coalition has trained 125,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers.

"About 40,000 can go anywhere in the country and take on any threat," Myers told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. "That does not mean the rest of them aren't useful."

The Defense Department also released a chart that said more than 79,000 Iraqi police officers and nearly 57,000 Iraqi military personnel have undergone training, Middle East Newsline reported. This included 74 Iraqi battalions, many of which were deployed during elections on Jan. 30.

Later, Gen. Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided different figures on the number of trained Iraqi troops. Pace told a Pentagon briefing that 136,000 Iraqi troops have been trained and equipped.

For his part, Myers said Iraqi units unprepared for combat missions could still conduct patrols. He said the coalition planned to accelerate training of Iraqis in 2005.

"The coalition must focus our efforts on reaching the point where we can shift our mission to fighting the counterinsurgency ourselves to developing Iraqi capacity to conduct those operations," Myers said. "Since this past July, the coalition has accomplished a great deal in improving the quality of the Iraqi security forces on duty."

Myers said the U.S. military has begun to embed trainers into Iraqi military and security units. He said the U.S. units have trained Iraqi military personnel and then conducted combat operations with them.

The general refused to provide an updated estimate of the size of the Iraqi insurgency. He said the estimate was classified, adding that "accurate estimates are just very, very difficult in this type of insurgency."

Members of the Senate committee expressed skepticism over the Pentagon figures, particularly regarding the number of combat-ready Iraqi forces.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, read an e-mail message from a Marine colonel who asserted that Iraqi commanders were inflating the size of their units.

"They have been lying about their numbers in order to get more money," the colonel was quoted as saying in the e-mail sent in 2005. "They say they have 150 when there are only 100. The senior officers take a cut from the top. We've caught soldiers in houses stealing property, and the commander won't react to it. They have no interest in learning the job, because right now the Marines are doing all of that."

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who cited numerous setbacks, said the United States must increase formation, training, equipping and mentoring of Iraqi forces. Wolfowitz cited a Bush administration request of $80 billion, much of which would be used to train Iraq's military, police and security forces.

"Iraqi security forces lack many of the capabilities that our forces demonstrate so superbly," Wolfowitz said. "However, Iraqi forces bring to the fight skills that our soldiers will never possess, particularly their understandings of the languages and cultures of Iraq."

Wolfowitz told the Senate committee that on June 28, 2004 only one Iraqi battalion was regarded as combat-ready and capable of deployment. He said that today there are 45 such units, but acknowledged absentee rates of up to 40 percent in Iraqi military units.

The deputy defense secretary also said the Pentagon has decided to withdraw 15,000 troops from Iraq in March 2005, which would result in 135,000 American soldiers in that Middle East country. Wolfowitz said the withdrawal would return the U.S. military presence to the level of that before the Iraqi elections last month.

Officials said the administration has seen a steady increase in Iraqi combat capability. They cited a turning point in August 2004 when Iraqi National Guard and military forces joined in the stabilization of Najaf.

"We have seen a steady increase in capability as measured by success in fighting on the ground." Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ronald Schlicher said.