U.S. SCALES BACK POLITICAL GOALS FOR IRAQI UNITY.

The article reports that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has abandoned many of its past benchmarks for Iraqi political progress seen as a cornerstone of its troop "surge" policy of 2007. The U.S. no longer expects Iraq to create laws sharing oil revenues or to hold regional elections. Lesser goals, such as Iraq's Parliament passing a budget, will be cited as proof of the surge's success.