The headline says it all: Decline in Iraqi Troops’ Readiness Cited.

More:

The number of Iraqi army battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help has dropped from three to one, top U.S. generals told Congress yesterday, adding that the security situation in Iraq is too uncertain to predict large-scale American troop withdrawals anytime soon.

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., who oversees U.S. forces in Iraq, said there are fewer Iraqi battalions at “Level 1″ readiness than there were a few months ago. Although Casey said the number of troops and overall readiness of Iraqi security forces have steadily increased in recent months, and that there has not been a “step backwards,” both Republican and Democratic senators expressed deep concern that the United States is not making enough progress against a resilient insurgency.

Kevin Drum has more on this.

It sure would be nice if they could just be honest with us. Had they been open and honest about the difficulties ahead from the beginning, I suspect that their approval ratings might not be so low. Seriously, does anyone believe anything these guys say in an official capacity anymore?