The report, released on Oct. 25, said Al Maliki has taken over the special forces, which until 2006 were under the control of the Defense Ministry. The U.S. military urged that the forces remain responsible to the Defense Ministry and the military command to protect them from political influence.

But Al Maliki has ignored U.S. recommendations and changed the structure of the 4,100-man force. Parliament did not approve the move by the prime minister.

"But the total cost of the program is unknown, and the extra-constitutional movement of the Special Ops forces from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense to the Office of the Prime Minister raises concerns about how the forces will be used in the future," the report said.

The report was the first that confirmed opposition complaints that Al Maliki was seeking to take over the Iraqi security forces and intelligence community. SOF, regarded as an elite force has been responsible for counter-insurgency.

Al Maliki has been accused of using SOF in operations that violated human rights. The allegations were contained in the release of 400,000 U.S. military logs and other documents by WikiLeaks in mid-October 2010.

The U.S. inspector-general also raised doubts regarding the effectiveness of the Iraqi police. The United States has spent $7.3 billion since 2003 to train and equip law enforcement units.

"The DoD [Defense Department] reports that over 400,000 Iraqi police have received training and are on the force," the report said. "However, the capabilities of these forces are unknown because no assessments of total force capabilities were made."

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