The report by Marine Corps intelligence has assessed that despite more than two years of efforts, the U.S.-led coalition has failed to eliminate insurgency strongholds in Anbar and bring the province under control of the central government in Baghdad. The Aug. 16 report, recommending the deployment of another division in the province, said major cities in Anbar such as Faluja and Qaim remain outside government authority.

"There is nothing MNF-W [Multinational Force-West] can do to influence the motivation of the Sunni to wage an insurgency," the report said.

The Defense Department has acknowledged the report, authored by Col. Peter Devlin of Marine headquarters in Anbar, and said it was being studied at the highest levels. Officials said the Sunni insurgency in Anbar and around Baghdad forced a suspension in U.S. plans for a significant withdrawal from Iraq during 2006.

"This is an operational assessment by one very good intel officer," Defense Undersecretary for Policy Eric Edelman said. "A lot of us are looking at it very closely."

The report said Al Qaida remains a major element in Anbar. Marine intelligence asserted that U.S. troops cannot patrol in some areas of the province because of the high level of insurgency activity.

"There's no denying that conditions that could lead to civil war exist," Edelman said.

[On Wednesday, Iraqi police reported finding the bodies of 65 people around Baghdad, most of them in Sunni neighborhoods. Police said all of the victims had been tortured and shot.]

On Sept. 11, Edelman told the House Government Reform subcommittee that Anbar, which borders Jordan and Syria, remains the center of the Sunni insurgency. But he added that the rest of Iraq does not share the difficulties of Anbar, the largest province in the country.

House committee members sought details of the report in open hearing. They also wanted an outline of a U.S. military withdrawal plan from Iraq. Officials reported 145,000 soldiers in Iraq, the highest level since December 2005.

Rear Adm. William Sullivan, vice director for strategic plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that by December 2006 the Iraqi government expects to complete the training and equipping of 137,000 military personnel and 188,000 police and security forces. But Sullivan said U.S. commanders have determined that amid rising sectarian violence American troops must remain at current levels until Iraq's military and police were prepared to assume security responsibility.

"They [Iraqi leaders] are trying figure out what kind of military ultimately they need," Sullivan said.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon stressed that the Marine intelligence report did not reflect the success of the coalition throughout Iraq. Officials pointed out that Anbar was lightly populated and served as a route for insurgents and weapons from Syria.

"I have seen that report and I do concur with that [intelligence] assessment," Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, commander of Multinational Force West, based in Anbar, told a Pentagon briefing. "The classified assessment, which has been referred to in these reports, was intended to focus on the causes of the insurgency. It was not intended to address the positive effects coalition and Iraqi forces have achieved on the security environment over the past years."

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