The study was meant to learn the lessons of the war against Hizbullah in mid-2006 when the air force conducted a reported 15,500 sorties and failed to destroy the Iranian-backed militia's short-range rocket arsenal.

Within two weeks, the air force depleted its smart munitions and most of its general purpose bombs.

"We were using smart weapons freely without any regard to our supplies," a senior officer said.

The air force study was meant to determine what weapons would be required for low-signature and conventional warfare targets. Officials said the air force would also seek to draft standards on collateral damage when battling insurgents in an urban area.

"If we had destroyed Hizbullah headquarters on the first day of the war, we would have killed the entire leadership," an official said.

The Defense Department has notified Congress that Iraq has requested medical supplies, equipment and training for its military and security forces. The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the proposed sale could reach nearly $1.05 billion.

Under the proposal, which requires approval by Congress, Iraq would receive a range of medical equipment, medicine, support and training. Officials said the procurement would be required to facilitate an Iraqi response to attacks on soldiers and civilians.

[On Friday, the U.S. military reported the capture of an Iraqi insurgent who operated for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Middle East Newsline reported. The military said the insurgent, linked to the assembly of Iranian-origin explosively-formed penetrators, was captured in Baghdad's Sadr City.]

"This proposed sale would contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the U.S. by providing basic medical needs to Iraqi forces and, as necessary and appropriate, civilians who are casualties of ongoing conflict," the agency said on Thursday. "The medical supplies will help minimize the casualties sustained during military operations."

A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that Iraq's army and police would not be capable of independent operations in 2008, when the United States was expected to begin a significant withdrawal. The report envisioned the under-equipped Iraq Army remaining dependent on the U.S. military for years to come.

"It is going to take well over a year to bring the Iraqi Army to the level of readiness it needs to assume responsibility for most security activity," CSIS senior fellow Anthony Cordesman, author of the report, said. "And it will then remain dependent on the United States for air support, artillery, armor, ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], and some aspects of sustainability. A strong advisory effort, including embeds, may be needed for several years to come."