Report expected to damn Iraqi security

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Interior Ministry is "dysfunctional" and the "ineffective" Iraqi National Police should be disbanded, an about-to-be-released U.S. report says.

The report by the Independent Commission on Security Forces, ordered by Congress, is set to be made public Thursday. It rips the Iraqi security apparatus less than a week before the highly anticipated Bush administration report on whether the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is succeeding, CNN said.

The report says the Interior Ministry "is a ministry in name only" and "is widely regarded as dysfunctional and sectarian."

Sectarianism is also a problem in the national police, where it "undermines its ability to provide security; the force is not viable in its current form," the report says.

It also says the "National Police should be disbanded and reorganized," CNN reported.

The Washington Post said it too obtained the 152-page document, and said the report agrees with the administration that the security situation has improved dramatically in Anbar province, and that there have been "tactical successes" in the Baghdad region.

However, the Post said the report estimates that the National Police won't be able to act independently for at least 12 to 18 months, and won't be able to conduct its own logistics operations for at least two years.

The independent commission is made up of retired senior military officers.