The United States said today it was using "milestones" to gauge the Iraqi government's progress in tackling security while an Iraqi minister said the United States and Britain must not cut and run from Iraq despite rampant bloodshed.
The White House acknowledged a New York Timesreport that it was setting such markers and wanted faster progress. But it denied the paper's contention that it planned to tell Iraq it must meet them or face changes in US military strategy.
"I was a bit puzzled by the (New York Times) report over the weekend, because it was stating something that we've been talking publicly about for months," White House counselor Dan Bartlett told CBS's "Early Show."
"Our ambassador in Iraq has been working with the Iraqi government to do just that, to find the demonstrable milestones and benchmarks along the way in which we will hand over more security control," Bartlett said.
But White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters no threats of US troop withdrawals had been made to the Iraqis.
"Are we issuing ultimatums? No," Snow said. But the Defense Department said it wanted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to move more quickly on security. "We would like to see progress come a little faster," spokesman Eric Ruff said.
The Bush administration is facing deep opposition to its Iraq policy among Americans that threatens to cost it control of Congress in elections on November 7. It has repeatedly rejected calls for a timetable to bring US troops home.
In London, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said national forces were gradually assuming responsibility for security but Iraq needed the international community's help to combat what he called "a difficult onslaught by terrorists."
"The rest of the world including the UK and the United States must understand that the stakes are very high in Iraq. There is no option of cutting and running," said Salih, in London for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
He said Iraq hoped to speed up the process of taking control of security. "By the end of this year, nearly seven or eight provinces of Iraq out of 18 provinces will be under direct Iraqi security control," he said.