WASHINGTON, 14 November 2006 — US President George W. Bush met yesterday with a heavyweight commission tasked with recommending new ways to fight the Iraq war but reiterated his opposition to a fixed timetable for a US withdrawal.
Bush said he expected “interesting ideas” from the Iraq Study Group led by former US Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic lawmaker Lee Hamilton, who were expected to unveil their advice next month.
“I believe it is very important, though, for people making suggestions to recognize that the best military options depend upon the conditions on the ground,” Bush said.
The comments came amid growing talk of a change in Western strategy in Iraq and the Mideast, and as British Prime Minister Tony Blair was set to call on Syria and Iran yesterday to boost support for peace efforts in the region.
But Bush rejected new overtures to Iran and Syria unless Tehran forswears sensitive nuclear work and Damascus changes its Lebanon policy and helps US-led efforts to pacify Iraq and build a democracy there.
“If the Iranians want to have a dialogue with us, we have shown them a way forward, and that is for them to verifiably suspend their enrichment activities,” said Bush.
The US president’s comments seemed to shut the door to Washington’s previous offer to take up the issue of Iraq with Tehran separate from difficult discussions on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programs.
“It’s very important for the world to unite with one common voice to say to the Iranians that, if you choose to continue forward, you’ll be isolated,” Bush added. “There has to be a consequence for their intransigence.”
Bush said he hoped to work with opposition Democrats who, fired up by capturing the US Congress in last week’s elections, say they hope to begin a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq within four to six months.
“What’s interesting is that they’re beginning to understand that with victory comes responsibilities,” Bush said of the Democratic victory. “And I’m looking forward to working with the Democrats to achieve common objectives.”
Looking to the Baker-Hamilton panel’s advice, Bush said he would not “prejudge” their report.
“I believe this: I believe that it’s important for us to succeed in Iraq, not only for our security but for the security of the Middle East, and that I’m looking forward to interesting ideas,” said the president.
Bush said that Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was leading Pentagon efforts to overhaul an Iraq strategy that even the White House concedes has not worked as well or as quickly as had been hoped.
The US president, who announced after the election that he was replacing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was also expected to get a fresh analysis of the situation there in a National Intelligence Estimate sometime in the next three months. At the US State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed that an offer to de-link Iraq from nuclear issues in talks with Iran was dead. That plan had called for discussions between Tehran and the US ambassador to Iraq.
“We made an offer to talk specifically about Iraq. That particular channel didn’t work out. If in the future we want to avail ourselves of that channel, then that is certainly a possibility, but I don’t think that right now that is something that is under consideration,” said McCormack.
Bush said the goal in Iraq remains “a government that can sustain, govern and defend itself and serve as an ally in this war on terror.” He also said that “I’m not sure what the report is going to say” but said he looked forward to seeing it.
Meanwhile, Gen. John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command, met yesterday with the Iraqi prime minister to “reaffirm President Bush’s commitment” to success in Iraq, the government said.
Baker has indicated the recommendations, to be issued before the end of the year, will fall somewhere between the troop withdrawal strategy that Republicans like to say Democrats favor and the stay the course policy until recently used by Bush 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.
