Bush Meets With Panel on Course of Iraq War

By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush met Monday with a bipartisan group seeking consensus on a new approach for the war in Iraq amid widespread agreement that the administration's current efforts have not worked well enough or fast enough.

White House press secretary Tony Snow described the meeting as a conversation in which both sides shared views. "This is not a deposition," Snow said. Further, he said there was not a presentation of alternatives but rather an assessment of the situation on the ground now.

The president talked in the Oval Office with members of the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton. The group is to release its findings before the end of the year.

The study group was spending the day at the White House speaking with members of Bush's national security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, CIA Director Michael Hayden, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalizad and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Cheney, Hadley and chief of staff John Bolten took part in the meeting with Bush.

Even before it is finished, the study group's report is seen by many as having huge stakes. It could give the Democratic and Republican 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."

Meanwhile, Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, met Monday with the Iraqi prime minister to "reaffirm President Bush's commitment" to success in Iraq, the government said.

Nouri al-Maliki and Abizaid, who commands all U.S. forces in the Middle East, discussed "the effect neighboring countries are having on the security situation in Iraq," the government statement said in a clear reference to Iran and Syria.

The study group, which is co-chaired by former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, was to meet not only with Bush, but also with Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Talks were set separately with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and CIA Director Michael Hayden.

And British Prime Minister Tony Blair planned to speak to the commission via video link on Tuesday.

Baker has indicated the recommendations 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.

"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."

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)