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Gates: Iraq Political Reform Difficult

Thursday, August 02, 2007By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - U.S. officials underestimated how difficult it would be for the Iraqi government to pass political reforms, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, saying the "depth of mistrust" among factions is greater than anticipated.

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Talking to reporters on board his plane as he returned from a four-day swing through the Middle East, Gates said he is more optimistic about improvements in security in the embattled nation than he is about getting legislation passed by the bitterly divided government.

"In some ways we probably all underestimated the depth of the mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation," Gates said. "The kinds of legislation they're talking about will establish the framework of Iraq for the future so it's almost like our constitutional convention. ... And the difficulty in coming to grips with those, we may all have underestimated six or eight months ago."