Bush asks for cooperation on new Iraq plan
Source: Reuters
(Refiles to add dropped word in 7th paragraph) (Adds Newsweek poll) By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush called on Democrats and Republicans on Saturday to work together on a new strategy for the war in Iraq after a high-level group said the administration's current approach was not working. "Now it is the responsibility of all of us in Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, to come together and find greater consensus on the best way forward," Bush said in his weekly radio address. Bush is under pressure for a shift in strategy in the unpopular war with sectarian violence rising and a growing number of Americans unhappy with his handling of the conflict. As part of his review, Bush meets on Monday with senior officials at the State Department and then in the Oval Office with a number of outside experts on Iraq. On Tuesday, he holds a videoconference with U.S. military commanders in Baghdad and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. He visits the Pentagon on Wednesday to talk to senior defense officials. Bush is cool to recommendations from the Iraq Study Group that U.S. combat troops be withdrawn from Iraq by early 2008 and that the United States hold direct talks with Iran and Syria. A Newsweek poll released on Saturday showed that many Americans agree with the recommendations. The magazine said its poll found 39 percent agreed with the Iraq Study Group, 20 percent disagreed, while 26 percent said they were not aware of the group. Newsweek also said 68 percent of those polled believe the United States is losing ground in Iraq.Bush seized on parts of the report with which he agrees. "The Iraq Study Group's report also explicitly endorses the strategic goal we've set in Iraq: an Iraq that can 'govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself,'" Bush said. The bipartisan panel on Wednesday called the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating" and made 79 recommendations urging the United States to begin a regional diplomatic effort and boost U.S. forces training of Iraqi army units. James Baker, co-chairman of the group and a confidant of Bush's father, urged the administration not to pick only the recommendations it liked and instead accept the whole package. Bush said he would consider all of the group's suggestions while awaiting other reviews by the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council. "I want to hear all advice as I make the decisions to chart a new course in Iraq," Bush said. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Friday the administration was aiming for its review to be completed soon so the president could hopefully address the nation on a new plan for Iraq before the Christmas holiday. Sectarian violence has continued largely unabated in Iraq. More than 2,900 U.S. troops have died and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat and incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee, said his party, which takes control of Congress in January, was ready to work with Bush. Reyes backed some of the panel's suggestions, such as retooling the troops' mission and launching a regional diplomatic effort. "If the president is serious about the need for change in Iraq, he will find Democrats ready to work with him in a bipartisan fashion to find a way to end the war as quickly as possible," he said in his party's radio address. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland)
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