(Continued from page 35)

of the Iraqi military, but they will be less prepared to address the long-term health of the Iraqi army," said retired Lt. Gen. James Dubik, who was in charge of training Iraqi forces in 2007 and 2008. In essence, he said, the U.S. teams will be "sharpening the tip of the spear, but not replacing the rotted staff with a new one."
• ___

• IRBIL, Iraq (AP) -- The president of Iraq's ethnic Kurdish region declared Tuesday that "we are facing a new reality and a new Iraq" as the country considers new leadership for its Shiite-led government as an immediate step to curb a Sunni insurgent rampage.
• The comments by Kurdish President Massoud Barzani came as he met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is pushing the central government in Baghdad to at least adopt new policies that would give more authority to Iraq's minority Sunnis and Kurds.
• Kerry has repeatedly said that it's up to Iraqis -- not the U.S. or other nations -- to select their leaders. But he also has noted bitterness and growing impatience among all of Iraq's major sects and ethnic groups with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
• Barzani told Kerry that Kurds are seeking "a solution for the crisis that we have witnessed."
• Kerry said at the start of an hour-long private meeting that the Kurdish security forces known as peshmerga have been "really critical" in helping restrain the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a Sunni insurgency that has overtaken several key areas in Iraq's west and north, and is pushing the country toward civil war.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The head of the Internal Revenue Service said Monday he has seen no evidence anyone committed a crime when the agency lost emails that might shed light on the targeting of tea party and other political groups before the 2010 and 2012 elections.
• Republicans in Congress aren't buying it. On Tuesday, they will hear from a White House official who once worked at the IRS.

(Continued on page 37)