Iraq’s first permanent government faces a host of challenges in the months ahead, from fighting corruption to supplying water and electricity to amending Iraq’s constitution.

With a new government in place, security concerns will dominate the Iraqi leaders’ agenda. Reforming the country’s decrepit police force will be paramount if Iraq is to end its cycle of violence.

Whatever emerges from the current review of U.S. Iraq policy, embedding more U.S. military advisers with Iraqi forces will be a vital component. But can this training effort help secure Iraq?

As he weighs options on Iraq, President Bush will consider not only the Iraq Study Group report but also pending in-house reports from the National Security Council and the Pentagon.