"For Iraq to move forward at any level, that fear is going to have to be replaced with some level of trust and confidence, and that is what the effort at the national level is about," he added, speaking by video link from Baghdad.
In briefings given to the news media and members of Congress, officials warned that making those strides could take more time than initially thought. One military general said a solid military assessment probably will not happen until November.
Some lawmakers have been hoping there would be more indications of stability in Iraq this summer, long before they gear up for the 2008 elections.
For months, Republicans in particular have regarded September as a pivotal point: They say that if substantial gains could not be found by then, President Bush would have to rethink his military strategy, which relies on 158,000 US troops.
"I'm not optimistic," Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said of the September assessment after attending a classified briefing at the Pentagon by Crocker and General David Petraeus, the top US military commander in Iraq.
Early yesterday morning, some 50 House members and 40 senators were bused to the Pentagon for separate question-and-answer sessions with the two officials, who were in Baghdad.
According to attendees, lawmakers were told that the political process was slow-moving and that it would be very difficult for Iraq to meet its 18 reform goals in the next 45 days.
A recent administration progress report found Iraq was making some progress in eight areas.
In open testimony later in the day, Crocker downplayed the importance of meeting major reforms right away and said less ambitious goals, such as restoring electricity to a neighborhood, can be just as beneficial. Crocker also pointed toward political headway being made at the local level and said agreements there may inspire further cooperation among sects.
The much-cited benchmarks "do not serve as reliable measures of everything that is important -- Iraqi attitudes toward each other and their willingness to work toward political reconciliation," he said.
