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Bush and Security Advisers to Meet Today
on Iraq Strategy
28.12.2006
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December 28, 2006
CRAWFORD, Texas., December 27, -- President
Bush's top national security advisers arrived here
to hone a new Iraq strategy that administration
officials said seems increasingly likely to include
a surge of additional troops to try to help
stabilize the country.
Although officials have said no decisions will be
made in the Crawford meeting, Bush seems to be
laying the groundwork for one more sustained effort
to defeat the Iraq insurgency and stabilize the
country politically. Two defense officials said
Wednesday that some sort of troop increase appears
likely in an effort to contain the violence but that
the specific size and nature of such a surge still
has to be worked out.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel took a swipe at
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the incoming
chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, for his
comment Tuesday that ordering more troops to Iraq
would do little to address the underlying political
problems fostering violence. |
George W. Bush J. U.S. President
Photo: White House |
"I would hope that Senator Biden would wait to hear
what the president has to say before announcing what
he's opposed to," Stanzel told reporters here.
The president arrived in Crawford this week for a
working holiday that includes a meeting Thursday
morning with his top national security advisers,
including Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M.
Gates. Rice and Gates conferred informally with Bush
at his Texas ranch Wednesday afternoon, a White
House official said.
Top military officials have said that they are open
to sending more U.S. troops to Iraq if there is a
specific strategic mission for them, though there
are doubts whether a small increase, or one that is
short in duration, can accomplish much. Another
reason for a surge would be to accelerate the
buildup of U.S. trainers helping Iraqi forces.
The Pentagon announced Wednesday that Gates has
approved the deployment of an Army brigade to Kuwait
to stand by as the U.S. Central Command's theater
reserve force, which means that more than 3,000 U.S.
troops will probably move to the region early next
month. Although those forces could be used to effect
a surge, they are replacing a smaller Marine unit
that moved into Iraq this fall and is usually ready
for use anywhere in the region.
Officials said Gates is bringing to Crawford
suggestions for a comprehensive approach to the
problem, emphasizing the need for economic and
diplomatic components alongside any military action.
One idea that has been picking up steam in recent
weeks is a new jobs plan as officials push to open
as many as 10 state-owned factories around Iraq by
the end of January. Commanders believe putting young
Iraqi men to work could make a serious dent in
sectarian violence, and an official familiar with
the program said Gates plans to brief the president
on it.
The idea that Bush would increase troop levels in
Iraq after elections in which Republicans lost
control of both chambers of Congress, partly because
of his Iraq policy, appears to be creating some
restiveness among Democrats.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the new chairman of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said
that other than the removal of Donald H. Rumsfeld as
defense secretary, there's "very little sign that
the president got the message the voters were
sending when it comes to Iraq," adding: "Any
decision to escalate in Iraq would suggest that the
president is either politically tone deaf or
deliberately ignoring the will of the vast majority
of the American people."
But Gary Schmitt of the conservative American
Enterprise Institute, which has close ties to the
administration, said he believes Bush is unhappy
with the advice he has been getting, especially from
the Iraq Study Group, which has proposed trying to
remove combat troops by early 2008. "All he was
getting was various options for getting out,"
Schmitt said.
"No president wants to be remembered as the guy who
lost a war," he said. "Who knows whether this is a
day late and a dollar short, but it is a striking
example of presidential will trying to bend the
system to what he wants."
The White House has said that Bush will formally
unveil his plans for Iraq sometime after the first
of the year.
washingtonpost com
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