Bush solicits advice on Iraq

Who the Hell does he think he is Kidding, I say.

From: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Washington
January 06, 2006

US President George W. Bush has hosted an unprecedented gathering of current and former secretaries of defense and state at the White House, reaching outside of his tightly-knit circle to solicit advice on the way forward in Iraq.

The meeting assembled an A-list of Washington's brains trust - among them some of the harshest critics of the admininistration's Iraq policy - and included prominent Democrats as well as Republicans.

Mr Bush said: "Not everybody around this table agree with my decision to go into Iraq, I fully understand that. But these are good solid Americans who understand that we've got to succeed now that we're there.

"I'm most grateful for the suggestions that have been given. We take to heart the advice. We appreciate your experience and we appreciate you taking time out of your day."

Among those taking part in the meeting were Colin Powell, Mr Bush's secretary of state during his first term, and other former secretaries of state, including Madeleine Albright, Lawrence Eagleburger and James Baker.

The former defense secretaries included William Cohen, William Perry, Frank Carlucci and Harold Brown.

Mr Bush said current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, along with Washington's ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and General George Casey, the US commander in Iraq, briefed the former officials "on our strategy for victory in Iraq".

In addition to updating the former officials, Mr Bush said: "I've also had a chance to listen to their concerns, their suggestions about the way forward."

The gathering reached back as far as the John F. Kennedy administration in the 1960s, with Robert McNamara, Kennedy's defense secretary, taking part.

"It was a unique meeting," Mr Carlucci, who served as defense secretary in the Ronald Reagan administration, told CNN television.

"I can't remember a meeting like this in recent history.

"The President participated actively in the discussion. The former secretaries expressed views, asked questions. It was a good exchange. It was all very respectful but I think people didn't hesitate to express candid views."

For his part, Mr Carlucci said: "I didn't proffer advice."

But he said others at the meeting pressed the President "to continue to explain to the public what his policies are - the progress he's making, that it's a difficult task and that not everything goes perfectly.

"I think we all agreed we wanted the President to succeed. Whether we agreed he should have gone in or not. Nobody feels we need to fail at this point. We have to keep pushing ahead. There was nobody in the meeting that urged an immediate pullout."

Another participant, Lawrence Eagleburger, who was secretary of state in the administration of Bush's father George H. W. Bush, said outside the White House after the meeting that forging a peaceful in Iraq had proved to be a mammoth task.

"You've got several hundred years of antagonism between Kurds, Saudis and Sunnis," he said, apparently meaning Iraq's majority Shiites rather than Saudis.

"Any time you think this is going to be done in a hurry, it's just not going to be the case. There will be bumps in this road. If you think anybody can predict success at this stage, I think you're wrong."

Mr Bush said his administration was pursuing a "dual track" approach for victory over the stubborn insurgency in Iraq.

"On the one hand, we will work to have a political process that says to all Iraqis, the future belongs to you. And on the other hand, we'll continue to work on the security situation there," he said.

"The main thrust of our success will be when the Iraqis are able to take the fight to the enemy that wants to stop their democracy, and we're making darn good progress along those lines."

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