Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline: Jim Mannion
Date: 21 October 2006
Body:
WASHINGTON, Oct 21, 2006 (AFP) - President George W. Bush will huddle with
top US generals Saturday to discuss the US strategy in Iraq amid a bloody
surge in violence there and one of the deadliest months for US troops.
The meeting also comes in the midst of growing calls for Bush to change his
strategy in Iraq and less than three weeks before legislative elections in
which opposition Democrats hope to gain control of Congress.
White House spokesman Tony Snow insisted that the meeting had been "on the
schedule for weeks" and was not in response to the rising violence and US
death toll.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the meeting was "nothing unusual."
Bush already met with General John Abizaid, his top commander in the Middle
East, at the White House Friday.
He will hold a broader meeting Saturday with Vice President Dick Cheney,
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, General George Casey, the US
commander in Iraq who was to join in via a video hook-up from Baghdad, and
Abizaid, officials said.
The meeting comes as Iraqi police battled Shiite militia for control of a
city that had recently been turned over to Iraqi security forces.
A top US general also acknowledged this week that a campaign to secure
Baghdad had failed to dampen sectarian violence there.
Opposition Democrats called on Bush to revise his strategy and convene an
international conference to support a political settlement in Iraq.
"We urge you to change course, level with the American people, and join
with us to develop a policy that will work, before the situation in Iraq is
irretrievable," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said in an open letter to
Bush.
Calls among Republican lawmakers, who control both chambers of Congress,
for a change of course in Iraq also have mounted ahead of the midterm
elections on November 7.
So far this month, 75 US troops have been killed, making October one of the
deadliest months for the US military since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In a session with Republican senators, Bush blamed the escalating violence
on Iraqi insurgents trying to influence the outcome of the US elections.
"Our tactics are constantly changing," he said Friday. "Our goal hasn't
changed, but the tactics are constantly adjusting to an enemy which is
brutal and violent."
But earlier this week Bush agreed that a columnist's comparison of the
situation to the 1968 Tet Offensive, which crystallized domestic opposition
to the Vietnam War, "could be right."
Rumsfeld acknowledged at a press conference that the violence in Iraq is
"higher than it has been."
But he would not say whether the administration and top US commanders were
considering a change in strategy or merely refining tactics to deal with
the worsening situation.
He said Saturday's meeting with the president "was a regular session where
we -- I think this is the third or fourth of them -- where we are updated
and review the circumstance and discuss the way forward."
Snow said, "The president understands the difficulty in a time of war, and
he also understands that what you do is you adjust tactically."
But the latest fighting in the southern city of Amara struck directly at
the US strategy of progressively turning over relatively secure areas to
Iraqi security forces, thereby allowing the withdrawal of US and coalition
forces.
British troops had turned over security for the city to Iraqi forces in
August. When they pulled out, their base on the city's outskirts was
looted.
Byline: Jim Mannion
Date: 21 October 2006
Body:
WASHINGTON, Oct 21, 2006 (AFP) - President George W. Bush will huddle with
top US generals Saturday to discuss the US strategy in Iraq amid a bloody
surge in violence there and one of the deadliest months for US troops.
The meeting also comes in the midst of growing calls for Bush to change his
strategy in Iraq and less than three weeks before legislative elections in
which opposition Democrats hope to gain control of Congress.
White House spokesman Tony Snow insisted that the meeting had been "on the
schedule for weeks" and was not in response to the rising violence and US
death toll.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the meeting was "nothing unusual."
Bush already met with General John Abizaid, his top commander in the Middle
East, at the White House Friday.
He will hold a broader meeting Saturday with Vice President Dick Cheney,
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, General George Casey, the US
commander in Iraq who was to join in via a video hook-up from Baghdad, and
Abizaid, officials said.
The meeting comes as Iraqi police battled Shiite militia for control of a
city that had recently been turned over to Iraqi security forces.
A top US general also acknowledged this week that a campaign to secure
Baghdad had failed to dampen sectarian violence there.
Opposition Democrats called on Bush to revise his strategy and convene an
international conference to support a political settlement in Iraq.
"We urge you to change course, level with the American people, and join
with us to develop a policy that will work, before the situation in Iraq is
irretrievable," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said in an open letter to
Bush.
Calls among Republican lawmakers, who control both chambers of Congress,
for a change of course in Iraq also have mounted ahead of the midterm
elections on November 7.
So far this month, 75 US troops have been killed, making October one of the
deadliest months for the US military since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In a session with Republican senators, Bush blamed the escalating violence
on Iraqi insurgents trying to influence the outcome of the US elections.
"Our tactics are constantly changing," he said Friday. "Our goal hasn't
changed, but the tactics are constantly adjusting to an enemy which is
brutal and violent."
But earlier this week Bush agreed that a columnist's comparison of the
situation to the 1968 Tet Offensive, which crystallized domestic opposition
to the Vietnam War, "could be right."
Rumsfeld acknowledged at a press conference that the violence in Iraq is
"higher than it has been."
But he would not say whether the administration and top US commanders were
considering a change in strategy or merely refining tactics to deal with
the worsening situation.
He said Saturday's meeting with the president "was a regular session where
we -- I think this is the third or fourth of them -- where we are updated
and review the circumstance and discuss the way forward."
Snow said, "The president understands the difficulty in a time of war, and
he also understands that what you do is you adjust tactically."
But the latest fighting in the southern city of Amara struck directly at
the US strategy of progressively turning over relatively secure areas to
Iraqi security forces, thereby allowing the withdrawal of US and coalition
forces.
British troops had turned over security for the city to Iraqi forces in
August. When they pulled out, their base on the city's outskirts was
looted.