Read Deborah Haynes's blog from Inside Iraq

Iraq’s divided Government has failed to meet key political goals set by Washington and violence is set to increase, according to a sober White House report.

Despite some advances by the Government of Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, the security situation in Iraq remains “complex and extremely challenging”, the report said. The economic picture was uneven.

Within hours of the report's publication, the House of Representatives voted last night to withdraw U.S. troops by spring 2008. The measure passed by 223 votes to 201 in the Democratic-controlled chamber despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.

Iraq timeline: five years of conflict

From accusations that the weapons of mass destruction dossier had been sexed-up to withdrawal of British troops from Basra

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The legislation would require the withdrawal of US combat troops to begin within 120 days, and to be completed by April 1, 2008. The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis, protect US assets and fight al-Qaeda and other terrorists.

Mr Bush issued the findings six months after he ordered the US troop “surge” into Iraq as he tries to quell a growing Republican revolt over the war. Congress had demanded a report on progress towards meeting political, military and economic reforms set by Capitol Hill in war funding legislation.

The report revealed that the number of suicide bombers and roadside bombs had approached record highs in March and April, “further exacerbating sectarian tension and making political deals more difficult to close”.

Eighty per cent of suicide bombers were foreign fighters, it said, the vast majority from Syria.

Between 50 and 80 suicide bombers travelled from Syria to join al-Qaeda’s ranks in Iraq every month, it said. But it added that while all US goals had not yet been met, the surge strategy remained in its early days. There were some encouraging signs that should, in time, “point the way to a more normalised and sustainable level of US engagement in Iraq”, it said.

In all, Baghdad had made “unsatisfactory” progress on eight mostly political goals, and “satisfactory” progress on eight largely military benchmarks. It was too early to assess the other two, Mr Bush said.

The decidedly mixed report card gave political ammunition to supporters and opponents of the war. Mr Bush latched on to its more positive aspects to make another passionate plea to give the surge more time to work.

“I believe we can succeed in Iraq and I know we must,” Mr Bush said. He added that any premature withdrawal of US troops would be a “disaster”, leaving Iraq to al-Qaeda and destabilising the region.

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