Bush to mull Iraq strategy over holidays
Source: Reuters
(Updates with Bush quotes, details) By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will hold high-level meetings on Iraq while spending the holiday week at Camp David and his Texas ranch as he prepares to unveil a fresh strategy in the new year, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Friday. New Defense Secretary Robert Gates, fresh from a trip to Iraq, will brief Bush on his findings at the presidential retreat in Maryland on Saturday. Gates has not said whether he will recommend a short-term increase in U.S. troops, one option Bush is considering. Bush was expected to launch a new Iraq strategy in a speech in January that will be separate from his annual State of the Union address scheduled for Jan. 23. After spending Christmas at Camp David, Bush and his wife, Laura, go to their ranch in Crawford, Texas, next week where the president planned to meet with members of his National Security Council on Thursday. The gathering, which will include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was for further consultations rather than making final decisions on Iraq strategy, Perino said. Bush has been talking to U.S. military commanders, Iraqi officials and outside experts as he tries to formulate a new Iraq policy to address unrelenting sectarian bloodshed. American public discontent with the war helped Democrats, who called for a change of direction in Iraq, wrest control of the U.S. Congress from Bush's Republican Party in November elections. As the death toll in Iraq crept toward the 3,000 mark, Bush paid a holiday visit to wounded troops at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Friday. He emerged from visiting 38 patients who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to say he was moved by their bravery and courage. Bush awarded 16 Purple Hearts to 14 troops wounded in combat. "It's also remarkable to me, these men and women who have volunteered to serve our country, who've received terrible wounds, but whose spirits are strong, their resolve is strong, and their dedication to our country remains strong," he said. But as his helicopter landed in a field near the medical center, there were reminders of the American public's growing unease with the war. A house across the street displayed signs saying, "Bush lied, Innocents died" and "Peace on Earth." (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan)
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