Currently, two Iraqi Army divisions are completely under Iraqi control, though Iraq controls its police forces.

“He wants to have appropriate capability and command and control of forces,” Khalilzad told Wolf Blitzer, host of CNN’s “Late Edition.” “We welcome his desire to have more forces, to have more capable and credible forces, and for him to have command and control of Iraqi Forces that are currently under coalition control.”

A plan already existed to transfer command and control, how to increase Iraqi Forces’ capabilities and for the Iraqi Government to assume responsibility for its country’s security over time, Khalilzad said. Maliki and President Bush yesterday created a U.S. and Iraqi committee to address how that goal can be achieved on an accelerated schedule.

“We are looking at how to expedite that, given the prime minister’s desire for this to happen as quickly as possible, a development that we welcome and we embrace,” Khalilzad said.