The two dozen Iraqi soldiers marched in formation into downtown Mosul, streets emptying in their path. The men trained their rifles on potential bomb threats: a donkey-drawn vegetable cart, a blue Opel sedan, a man with a bulge beneath his tattered gray coat.

Less than a month ago, U.S. forces patrolled these dangerous streets. But on this humid morning there were only the Iraqis and a lone U.S. adviser, Marine Staff Sgt. Lafayette Waters, 32, of Kinston, N.C., who blended unobtrusively into the patrol.

Col. Robert B. Brown, commander of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), which conducts combat operations throughout northern Iraq, predicted the transition would come "over the next six months to a year . . . until pretty soon they've got the whole area and we do nothing but respond" to emergencies.

The ambitious strategy is being questioned by some U.S. military advisers who work closely with the Iraqi forces. They say that although the Iraqis are progressing, they are being rushed into battle before they are ready in an effort to speed the withdrawal of American forces.

"It's all about perception, to convince the American public that everything is going as planned and we're right on schedule to be out of here," said one adviser, Army Staff Sgt. Craig E. Patrick, 40, a reservist from Rock Island, Ill. "I mean, they can [mislead] the American people, but they can't [mislead] us. These guys are not ready."

Waters, who has lived with the 23rd Iraqi Battalion's 1st Company since Jan. 15, said that the Iraqi soldiers "have a lot of heart and are making progress" but that "we need to slow it down and do it right. The worst thing that could happen is to have to come back in and fix the problem."

The Iraqi forces are still poorly equipped, U.S. advisers and Iraqi soldiers agreed. Most ride into battle in "Road Warrior"-like white Nissan pickup trucks with machine guns welded into the bed and makeshift armor supported by plywood and even cardboard. Iraqi units lack medics, adequate communications equipment, computers and other battlefield necessities.

"This is the 21st century," said Lt. Col. Raad Abdul Hassan, an Iraqi company commander with the 23rd Battalion. "It's shameful what we have."

U.S. officers said the experiment has been successful so far. Since its arrival in Mosul, the battalion has suffered one combat death; five others have been wounded. Marine Maj. Frank Shelton, the battalion's senior adviser, said the battalion arrested about 140 suspected insurgents in its first 70 days. Despite fears that insurgents would test the battalion, the area appears to have experienced no more insurgent activity than areas of the city controlled by American units.

Still, the 6th Brigade has already replaced two of three battalion commanders while in Mosul. In addition, a company commander was replaced shortly after he hid behind a wall when a small group of insurgents attacked a polling site on election day with grenades and small-arms fire.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth Kurre, an adviser to the 23rd Battalion, said that concerned him. He said he worried that the insurgents were "just biding their time, and when we're gone it'll go back to ass-whuppin' time."