WASHINGTON – President Bush squared off Thursday with a blue-ribbon Iraq panel over some of its key goals, rebuffing a call for unconditional U.S. talks with Iran and Syria and refusing to back a troop withdrawal by early 2008.
A day after the bipartisan group slammed his policy and warned of a slide toward anarchy, Bush said he stood by his determination to prevail but also recognized the difficulties ahead.
“It’s bad in Iraq. That help?” he said sharply when pressed on whether he was in denial about the situation there.
“I thought we would succeed quicker than we did,” Bush said. “And I am disappointed by the pace of success.”
Bush said he would lay out a new strategy for the nearly four-year-old war in a coming speech, probably before the end of the year, but offered no hints of what that strategy might be.
And with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his side, Bush called the group’s report “very constructive” but also made clear that he still viewed Iraq as central to his goal of a worldwide fight against terrorism and was defiant in his desire to see it through, despite the difficulties. “I believe we’ll prevail,” he said.
Bush’s comments came as the the Iraq Study Group saw one of its key recommendations – U.S. talks with key rivals in the Middle East “without preconditions” – come under fire from Bush, members of both parties in Congress and even the Israeli government.
Bush gave general support to the group’s idea of linking improvements in the overall Arab-Israeli crisis to improvements in Iraq, and Blair announced he would travel to the region soon. Bush also called the panel’s idea for an international conference with Iraq’s neighbors an “interesting idea.”
But when it came to talking to Iran and Syria without conditions, Bush appeared to dig in, saying both nations had to change their ways.
“If people come to the table to discuss Iraq, they need to come understanding their responsibilities to not fund terrorists, to help this young democracy survive, to help with the economics of the country,” Bush said.
If Iran and Syria won’t do that, “then they shouldn’t bother to show up,” Bush said.
The panel’s co-chairmen, however, said the recommendation on Iran and Syria was meant to “flat-out reject” Bush’s long-standing refusal to speak to enemies such as those for fear of rewarding bad behavior.
“Talking is not a reward,” said former Rep. Lee Hamilton. “Look, we’ve got problems to solve, and you’ve got to talk to people to solve problems.”
Panel co-chairman James Baker said that Iran already has been helpful to the United States on Afghanistan, and that Bush authorized Baker to speak to Iran in preparing the report.
“We’re not naive enough to think that in this case they may want to help. They probably don’t,” said Baker, who was secretary of state when Bush’s father was president. “Fine. What do we lose by saying we’re getting all of Iraq’s neighbors together, we want you to come?”
Hamilton and Baker also drew fire in Congress for the recommendation to shift the U.S. military mission in Iraq to one of training and advising Iraqi forces while pulling out combat forces by early 2008.
Senators charged that would leave the 15,000 to 20,000 advisers left behind in grave danger, which Hamilton didn’t dispute.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a presidential hopeful, was the most blunt in his assessment, calling that and other parts of the report “a recipe that will lead to, sooner or later, our defeat in Iraq.”
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., another presidential contender, said the panel now has put the onus on Bush: “We’ve now heard from the Iraq Study Group, but we need the White House to become the Iraq Results Group.”
As the White House continued to digest the report, Bush and the panel’s co-chairmen engaged in something of dance Thursday. Bush made clear there were parts of the report he didn’t like, but Baker warned that Bush shouldn’t treat the report like a “fruit salad” and only pick the parts he likes.
Hamilton was more direct, saying Bush has just “weeks and maybe days” to act.
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