Bush discusses Iraq strategy with present and former officials
Iraq-USA, Politics, 1/6/2006

The US President George W. Bush invited a former US secretaries of state and defense to the White House to hear their input on the US strategy being followed in Iraq.

He met in the White House with several senior former and current officials in the American administration including Republicans and democrats, with many of them opponents for the war in Iraq, in a step described by Franc Carlucci, the defense secretary in Ronald Reagan administration as a unique initiative "he does not remember any other one similar to in the modern American history."

Bush said the United States has a "dual track strategy for victory," by encouraging an inclusive political process and preparing Iraqi forces to handle their own security.

Noting the experience and expertise of meeting participants, the president said, "I'm most grateful for the suggestions that have been given [and] we take to heart the advice.

"I've had a chance to listen to their concerns, their suggestions about the way forward," he said. 

The former secretaries of state participating in the meeting were Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Lawrence Eagleburger, James Baker III, George P. Shultz and Alexander Haig Jr.

The former defense secretaries were William Cohen, William Perry, Frank Carlucci, Harold Brown, James Schlesinger, Melvin Laird and Robert S. McNamara.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said January 4 that the meeting was arranged in the same spirit as the president's discussions with members of Congress in December 2005.

"It is an opportunity for these key leaders of previous administrations to hear about our plan for victory and hear about the progress we're making directly from our civilian and military leaders on the ground," McClellan said, adding that it was also an opportunity to "hear from this bipartisan group and get their ideas."

Bush said that the foreign secretary Condaleeza Rice, the defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Washington's ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad and the commander of the American forces in Iraq George Casey briefed the former officials on the victory strategy pursued by the Bush administration.

Bush admitted that that his vision for the situation in Iraq does not win unanimous consent and that that not everyone at the bipartisan meeting agreed with the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, but they "understand that we've got to succeed now that we're there."

Bush said that Washington's strategy is based on two pillars. They are the success of the political operation and enabling the Iraqis to transfer the war "to the camp of the enemy which wants to stop democracy." He stressed that the American administration achieved great progress on the two fronts.

Former Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleburger, who was invited to the meeting, jokingly remarked that the group invited to the White House, as a "has been" group who themselves were part of the government at some time, and hinted that, in the presence of the President Of The United States, a group such as this would find it difficult to express their true convictions forthrightly, as they may otherwise do somewhere else.

Previous Stories:
  Bush says US troops in Iraq will be reduced   (1/5/2006)
  Iraqi authorities accuse US army of killing civilians   (1/4/2006)
  Training Iraqi forces top US priority for 2006, general says   (1/2/2006)

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