Bush, staff meet with bipartisan Iraq group

Cheney, others involved
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 Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Cheney, Hadley and chief of staff Josh 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.

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.

Middle ground by group?
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.

“We clearly need a fresh approach,” said Bolten, making the rounds of morning talk shows.

Levin and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, predicted that many Republicans would support a resolution on a phased troop reduction now that the election is over.

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 begin 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.

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