DESPITE SIZE, IRAQI SECURITY FORCE DISAPPOINTS

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Iraq's military and security forces, surpassing the200,000 mark, have performed poorly in the current U.S. campaign againstShi'ite and Sunni insurgents. Officials said that so far the performance of Iraqi security forcesagainst the Mahdi Army loyal to Iranian-backed Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadrhas been deemed disappointing. They said in many cases, U.S.-trained Iraqipolice and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps forces fled rather than fought theShi'ite combatants.