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George Bush Hopes for Help from His Enemies
// US May Propose Iraq Solution Involving Iran and Syria
Yesterday a US commission studying the situation in Iraq and charged with working out a new strategy for America in the country met with President Bush and his closest advisors. On the eve of the meeting, the White House implied that inviting Iran and Syria to become involved in normalizing the situation in Iraq is a definite possibility. It is expected that the involvement of Syria and Iran will be the commission's main recommendation when it releases its final report in December. Meanwhile the Democrats, who will take control of Congress in January 2007, have already announced that their main task will be to engineer the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
On Sunday it was again confirmed that, after the victory of the Democrats in the congressional elections and the subsequent resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the US strategy in Iraq is heading for change. In an appearance on CNN, White House chief of staff Josh Bolten said that the White House is open to any ideas concerning a way to normalize the situation in Iraq. "The current situation in Iraq is not good for anyone," admitted Mr. Bolten. "It is very clear that we need a fresh approach to the problem there."
The Republican administration has apparently recently been considering an approach that would incorporate Iraq's neighbors Syria and Iran in normalizing the situation in Iraq. Washington previously included the two countries in its "axis of evil" and still accuses them of supporting the extremist Hezbollah movement. Replying to a question concerning Mr. Bush's readiness to turn to Tehran and Damascus for help in Iraq, Mr. Bolten said that "the administration will consider all possible variants." The very next day, Mr. Bush's main partner in the anti-Saddam coalition, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, leant his support to more serious participation by Iran and Syria in the discussion of Iraq's future.
Mr. Blair and Mr. Bolten both categorically declined to say anything more concrete about a timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq. "No one wants to withdraw the troops more than President Bush does," emphasized Josh Bolten. "But our troops need to support the Iraqi government as long as we are not satisfied that it can govern without us. We will withdraw the troops as soon as we can."
Similar comments were made yesterday at a meeting between members of the commission for studying the situation in Iraq, the head of the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The commission was created by Congress last spring under the chairmanship of former Secretary of State James Baker, a Republican who served under the elder George Bush, and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton. The commission will present its recommendations concerning the future of the situation in Iraq by the middle of December.
Together with Tony Blair, who will be attending by video, Democrats from the congressional foreign affairs committee are due today to meet with the commission. However, their point of view of foreign affairs is already well-known. Last summer, the Democrats twice introduced legislation aimed at a gradual withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, but the heavy hand of the Republican Congress blocked their initiatives. With their victory in the elections, however, the situation for the Democrats has changed completely. And although the Democrats have promised to wait with the introduction of new initiatives related to Iraq until the commission's work is over, last Sunday several prominent Democratic senators announced that, with the transfer of control over Congress to their party in January of next year, the legislative body's main task will be to withdraw American troops from Iraq. "We need to begin a gradual withdrawal within the next four to six months," stressed Michigan Senator Karl Levin, the incoming head of the congressional committee on military affairs, in an interview with ABC News. "The goal of that is to let the Iraqis know that our open-ended responsibility has come to an end and that they need to resolve their problems themselves," said Senator Levin in a different interview. Meanwhile, Senator Harry Reid, the future Senate Democratic majority leader, has said that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq could begin within the next two months.
Natalya Portyakova
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 14, 2006
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