As enemy attackers penetrated the Green Zone yesterday and killed 10 people, the recently departed Iraqi ambassador to Washington said it would be quite “ambitious” to expect to meet President Bush’s goal of having a trained force of 125,000 Iraqi security personnel by the end of the year.

Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute yesterday, Rend Rahim said the training of the Iraqi security services has been slow. “The vetting of new recruits has been slow, training has been slow, and above all equipping has been abysmally slow,” she said.

Ms. Rahim made these comments as American forces prepared the latest air offensive on Fallujah following two suicide bomb attacks inside the fortified center of Baghdad where the government ministries are located. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher yesterday said the twin blasts killed four Americans and six Iraqis. Wire dispatches from Iraq said the explosions injured 20 more. The bombings came on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Shortly after the lunchtime bombings in Baghdad, Marines and American fighter jets pounded positions 40 miles to the west in Fallujah. Prime Minister Allawi yesterday demanded the citizens of the rebel-controlled city hand over Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, the master terrorist believed to be behind the recent suicide bombings and beheadings that have plagued foreigners and Iraqis in recent months. Mr. Allawi’s threat was carried out last evening.

The Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force as saying it would be a “long night.” Major Francis Piccoli told the AP the goal of the operation was to “disrupt the capabilities of the anti-Iraqi forces.” He added, “Ultimately, the intent is to help the Iraqi government bring in democracy,” he added.

The attacks inside the Green Zone – the area that used to house the Coalition Provisional Authority – and American strikes in Fallujah, illustrates the need for the quick creation of Iraqi security forces. On the campaign trail, Mr. Bush has often responded to attacks from Senator Kerry about security in Iraq by pointing to a pledge made last month by Prime Minister Allawi that 125,000 security forces would be ready to be deployed by the end of the year.

At Wednesday’s debate in Arizona, the president said, “The best way to take the pressure off our troops is to succeed in Iraq, is to train Iraqis so they can do the hard work of democracy, is to give them a chance to defend their country, which is precisely what we’re doing. We’ll have 125,000 troops trained by the end of this year.”

But Ms. Rahim, who recently left Mr. Allawi’s government, said yesterday that such a goal was “very ambitious” when asked directly whether it was possible to meet this standard, expressing disbelief that anyone had proposed this. Ms. Rahim, however, was not altogether pessimistic.

She stressed that she did not expect a repeat of the episode when Iraqi forces deserted in the face of resistance this spring in Fallujah, pointing to the success of the National Guard battalions when they confronted Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia in Najaf.

“However, it’s important to accelerate this process, to equip these people,” she added. “The equipment, in terms of personal armor, in terms of vehicles, in terms of weapons, has been extremely slow in being implemented and delivered to the Iraqi army.”

On the panel with Ms. Rahim was one of the architect’s of Iraq’s interim constitution, Salem Chalabi, who was blunt about the goal to train 125,000.

“There is training and there’s training,” he said. “I actually think that there needs to be significantly more training, and so I doubt that we’ll get 125,000 well-trained people. We’ll get 125,000 maybe poorly trained people, maybe a few well-trained people.”

Most Iraqi troops are slated to receive an eight-week basic training course with officers in the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi army scheduled to take another two-to-six-week course. These courses stress training in human rights and rule of law, according to Mr. Chalabi. According to a Council on Foreign Relations briefing report, there are 12,699 soldiers on duty in the army today. “Of those, 4,789, or 38%, were trained. The army is slated to have a total of 27,000 fully trained soldiers by April 1, 2005, according to Pentagon targets,” the report says.

The numbers of the Iraqi National Guard, according to the council, is slightly better. Of the 40,351 forces in the guard, 38,338 are trained. The Pentagon has set a goal of 62,000 trained by April 1, 2005.

The Iraqi police force numbers 84,950, but many of these officers have been recently asked to leave because of concerns that they are cooperating with terrorists. Only 10% of the police have gone through the eight-week training course, according to the council.