WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal auditors are recommending that the Iraqi government meet specific milestones of progress to receive any future aid for reconstruction, according to a report released Monday that echoes a message the Bush administration has delivered to Iraqi leaders.
The study, issued by the special inspector general who audits U.S. work in Iraq, also concluded that reconstruction is being blocked by violence, and efforts to empower Iraqis to do more are fraught with problems 3 1/2 years after the U.S. invaded the country.
The Iraqis should ‘‘meet concrete milestones and political and economic benchmarks as a condition of future aid,'' the report recommended. It said U.S. relief and reconstruction aid could be provided through conditional loans and be tied to specific actions by the Iraqi government.
During the past two weeks U.S. officials have pressed the Iraqis to begin to meet milestones of progress, an effort that has revealed rifts in the relationship between the two governments.
Last week Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki complained publicly after U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the Iraqis had agreed to meet specified benchmarks for progress.
Bush later voiced confidence in al-Maliki, but warned that the U.S. will not have ‘‘unlimited patience'' with the Iraq government's failure to quell sectarian violence.
The strains have surfaced in the run-up to the Nov. 7 elections for control of Congress (see above).