Lawmakers fear lack of progress on Iraq economic, political fronts

? The Bush administration is falling short in its efforts to rebuild Iraq, increase oil production and spawn a new government that is representative of all factions there, lawmakers of both parties said Tuesday.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld heard from critics including panel Chairman John Warner, R-Va. The comments marked a continuation of bipartisan criticism the administration has received in recent months from members of Congress over its Iraq policies.

Warner said that without an effective Iraqi government that has leaders with “strong backbones, not subject to secular pulls,” it was unclear whether U.S. troops would be able to return home even if Iraq’s military and security forces are competent.

At the same hearing, after repeated questioning about stress on the National Guard and Reserve, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace told lawmakers that the nonactive duty forces will play a much smaller role over the next year in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Black smoke billows from an oil refinery that has been attacked in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. U.S. and Iraqi officials suspect that Iraq's government is so weak that corruption is hampering security efforts, if not directly contributing to insurgents.

Pace said Guard and Reserve troops would make up 19 percent of the U.S. forces there, compared with 30 percent now. There are 138,000 troops in Iraq and 19,000 in Afghanistan.

Bush administration officials have been saying they hope to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq this year, assuming the Iraqi government and its forces can take a wider role in the war and keeping order.

A study commissioned by the Pentagon said last month that the wear and tear of the U.S. deployment in Iraq was beginning to wear down the Army and questioned how much longer it could continue operating there at full effectiveness.

Rumsfeld acknowledged difficulties the United States is facing in Iraq and urged patience.

4 Marines killed

Three U.S. Marines were killed Monday in a bombing in Hit, Iraq, 85 miles west of Baghdad, while another Marine died from wounds caused by a bombing Sunday in Anbar province. Their deaths bring the U.S. toll to at least 2,260.

“It’s our job to do what we’ve been doing – to help create an environment where they can do that, to launch them on the path for democracy, to train up their forces so that they can provide security while the building process takes place in the years ahead by the Iraqi people,” Rumsfeld said.

That response didn’t appear to appease lawmakers.

Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the panel’s top Democrat, said the Bush administration has failed to clearly tell Iraqis they must amend their constitution to ensure power and resources are shared equitably and a government is created that reflects the country – not Shiite, Kurdish and minority Sunni sectarian groups.

“The only hope we have of defeating that insurgency is if they will put their house in order politically,” Levin said.