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| Bush Reaches Beyond Inner Circle On Iraq Policy |
| 2006-01-09 |
| Bush reaches beyond inner circle on Iraq policy Fri Jan 6, 2006 3:00 AM GMT By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush reached beyond his tight circle of trusted aides on Thursday to solicit views on Iraq of former secretaries of state and defence, including some who have publicly criticised his policy. The meeting, part of the president's effort to defend his policies on Iraq and the war on terrorism as he tries to recover from low opinion poll ratings, took place as insurgent violence surged anew this week in Iraq. "Not everybody around this table agreed with my decision to go into Iraq and I fully understand that," Bush said, adding that he had listened to their concerns and suggestions. "We take to heart the advice." The former officials who served in administrations dating back to President John Kennedy, met with Bush, current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. They were briefed by Gen. George Casey, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Clinton administration official who has criticised Bush's Iraq policy, said later she had voiced her concerns during the meeting. Appearing on CNN, Albright said she told Bush that "we had a long way to go" to succeed in Iraq. She said she suggested creating a "contact group" of regional powers to help and to make clear that the United States did not intend to have permanent bases there. "I took advantage of the time to say that I was very worried about the position of the United States internationally," Albright added, listing Iran, North Korea and the situation in the Middle East among her chief concerns. Bush has been emphasising progress in Iraq after the December elections to an American public that has shown increasing discontent with the war in which more than 2,100 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqis have died. Critics have called for a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, but Bush has repeatedly said that he will not set a timetable and U.S. forces would not pull out until Iraqi forces can take over security. "The main thrust of our success will be when the Iraqis are able to take the fight to the enemy that wants to stop their democracy, and we're making darn good progress along those lines," Bush said. HAIG: BUSH 'ABSOLUTELY CORRECT' Alexander Haig, secretary of state for President Ronald Reagan, said Bush was right to say withdrawing troops from Iraq would be determined by conditions on the ground. "I think the president has taken the absolutely correct position, contrary to a number of Washington politicians," Haig said. Bush has to address the troop-withdrawal question because many Americans want to know when U.S. forces will pull out, but it can give information to the enemy, Eagleburger said. "Every time we talk about withdrawal you can see the ears of Osama (bin Laden) and his friends perking up," he said. Among those attending were Colin Powell, Bush's first secretary of state whose tenure was often marked by friction with the White House and the Pentagon on a range of foreign policy issues. Since leaving the post, Powell has avoided publicly criticising the president, but several of his aides have lashed out at Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld. Also at the meeting were William Perry, defence secretary in the administration of President Bill Clinton who was an adviser to Bush's 2004 election opponent, Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Other who attended from Republican and Democratic administration included former secretaries of state James Baker and George Shultz. Former secretaries of defence included William Cohen, Frank Carlucci, James Schlesinger, Harold Brown, Melvin Laird and Robert McNamara. McNamara, 89, served under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Although he was a key architect of early U.S. policy in Vietnam, he eventually became disillusioned with the war there. |
| Posted by:Shiper Phinegum6887 |
| #4 I agree with anonymouse. There just isn't enough to discuss regarding Iraq at this point. Yet Iran is a hairy nut to deal with and I imagine Bush was hoping for any kind of insight they might not have thought of before as well as guarantees of silence. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-01-09 15:16 |
| #3 I'll say again, I don't think this meeting had anything to do with Iraq. Iraq is a done deal. However, Iran will require every bit of brain power and insider information that can be obtained from anywhere. By reaching back, quite literally, through 40 years of information and experience, Bush is demonstrating once again his near obsessive infatuation with strategic planning. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-01-09 13:27 |
| #2 McNamara, 89, served under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Although he was a key architect of early U.S. policy in Vietnam, he eventually became disillusioned with the war there. "100,000 more men is all we need I tell you, only 100,000, thats roughly 5 divisions, 100,000, we'll have them all cleaned out in no time, China and Russia will never invade." |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-09 13:26 |
| #1 Link is hosed! |
| Posted by: Pappy 2006-01-09 13:06 |