President Bush’s troop surge in Iraq has failed to achieve most of its objectives, according to an official report prepared for the US Congress.

A draft of the document, written by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), found that only three out of 18 benchmarks for progress on political and security issues had been met, 13 were not achieved and two were “partially met”.

“Overall key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high and it is unclear whether the Iraqi Government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds,” said the 69-page report, which was leaked to the Washington Post ahead of its publication next week.

The report, called Securing, Stabilising and Rebuilding Iraq, said that only two of the security benchmarks were met. Although it found that attacks against US forces had dropped, it claimed that attacks against Iraqi civilians remained about the same.

It added that Iraqi security forces remained divided along sectarian lines and found that only six Iraqi units were capable of operating independently, down from 10 units in March.

Of the eight political benchmarks, only the “protection of the rights of minority political parties” was achieved. Key provisions such as constitutional reform, new oil-sharing legislation and revoking de-Baathification laws have not been achieved.

The findings will be seized upon by critics of Mr Bush, who argue that the surge has failed to improve the situation in Iraq despite a huge cost in lives and money.

The White House is preparing its own report on progress in Iraq. A preliminary version released in July recorded satisfactory progress on eight benchmarks.

US officials said that the different conclusions reached by the two reports reflected the tougher standards set by the GAO, which was asked in each case to decide whether or not a target was met.

“The standard the GAO has set is far more stringent,” said a Pentagon spokesman. “Some might argue it is impossible to meet.”

The most keenly awaited assessment will come from General David Pretraeus, the commander of US forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US Ambassador to Baghdad, who will deliver their report to Congress on September 15.

“The whole world is waiting anxiously to see what this report will indicate,” said Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister yesterday. “I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions.”

The outcome of the debate could have huge political ramifications in America, where Iraq is the main issue for candidates running in the 2008 presidential race.

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