Bush, Panel to Meet on Course of Iraq War
By BEN FELLER
WASHINGTON – Bearing down on a plan for peace, the bipartisan panel studying the war in Iraq faces rising expectations, with the public restless for change and political leaders eager for some help.
The Iraq Study Group will meet with President Bush and other White House officials Monday, a pivotal day of talks as the panel nears the end of its review. The group plans to announce its recommendations to Bush and Congress by the end of the year.
Even before it is finished, the report is seen by many in Washington as having huge stakes. It could give both parties a chance at consensus – or at least a tenable framework for agreement – after an election that gave Democrats congressional control and reshaped Bush’s final two years in office.
"The president looks forward to sharing his thoughts with the Iraq Study Group, as do other administration officials," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, on Sunday. "He is open to any ideas and suggestions on the way forward."
The study group is led by Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana.
Members of the group were meeting with Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
The group was also having individual meetings with Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and CIA Director Michael Hayden.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also plans to speak to the commission via video link on Tuesday.
Baker has indicated the recommendations will fall somewhere between the "cut and run" strategy that Republicans like to say Democrats advocate, and the "stay the course" policy until recently used by the president and widely ridiculed by Democrats.
On Sunday, Bush’s advisers adopted a new tone, days after a dissatisfied public handed the White House a divided government.
"Full speed ahead" in Iraq, as Cheney put it in the final days of the campaign, was replaced by repeated calls for a "fresh perspective" and an acknowledgment that "nobody can be happy" with the situation in Iraq.
"We clearly need a fresh approach," said Josh Bolten, Bush’s chief of staff, making the rounds of morning talk shows.
Democrats, meanwhile, showed they were not all in accord on how to proceed in Iraq. Although party leaders back a multifaceted approach to stabilizing the country, lawmakers have not unified on when to bring troops home without risking more chaos in Iraq.
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the incoming chairman of the Armed Services Committee, urged that U.S. troops begin coming home in phases within four months to six months. He and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, predicted many Republicans would support such a resolution now that the election is over.
"We have to tell Iraqis that the open-ended commitment is over," Levin said.
Yet the Senate’s top Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, did not seem to go as far. He said he thought the withdrawal of U.S. troops should began within a few months, but when asked if he would insist on a specific date, he said, "Absolutely not."
The administration will not support a timetable for drawing down troops, Bolten said.
Biden and Levin appeared on ABC’s "This Week." Bolten appeared on ABC’s "This Week, CBS’ "Face the Nation" and "Late Edition" on CNN. Reid was on "Face the Nation."