LoungeMachine
12-03-2006, 01:50 PM
Bush Is Weighing Options on Iraq, Top Aide Says
Hadley Says White House Considering Points Cited by Rumsfeld in Memo
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 3, 2006; 12:16 PM
President Bush is weighing a range of options in Iraq, including a partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from violence-plagued cities and a troop buildup near the Iranian and Syrian borders, his top security aide said today.
Bush is open to several possibilities because he realizes that "things are not proceeding well enough or fast enough in Iraq," national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley told ABC News' "This Week." "We have to make some changes."
Hadley said the president is considering the list of options cited in a Nov. 6 memo by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who announced his resignation two days later -- the day after Republicans suffered major setbacks in the congressional elections. The options included the positioning of substantial U.S. forces near the Iranian and Syrian borders, withdrawing U.S. troops from vulnerable positions, and starting modest drawdowns of American forces in a bid to encourage Iraqis "to pull up their socks, step up and take responsibility for their country."
"Of course they're being considered," Hadley said of the options. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "made very clear to the president that he and his unity government want to take more responsibility. That's what we've been seeking for three years now to get an Iraqi government that has the desire and the capability to step forward. They're not there yet. They face enormous challenges. They don't have all the tools that they need."
Some senior Democratic senators, who will be in the majority when the 110th Congress convenes next month, said the Bush administration continues to move too slowly in pressing Iraqis to assume control of their nation's security and future.
"I'd do the opposite of what the president did a month ago, when he picked up the phone and called Prime Minister Maliki and said, don't worry, we're staying," Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who is considering a presidential bid, told ABC. "I'd pick up the phone and say, 'You know what, we're not staying forever. You need to start getting your act together.' "
Bayh said Iraqis must "decide about the division of oil revenue, the role of religion, the role of the provinces versus the central government, the role of any former Baathists. These are only questions that you can decide. And if you do, we'll stand by you. . . . But if you don't, there's nothing we can do for you.' . . . To show that I meant business, I'd bring out a smaller group of troops now."
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), another possible presidential candidate and the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told "Fox News Sunday" that the Rumsfeld memo shows "there was a clear disconnect between what the administration has been saying the last year and what's been going on on the ground."
He said no one, including Rumsfeld, "thought the policy the president continues to pursue makes any sense."
Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) took a different tack, saying the United States should send more troops to Iraq to quell the sectarian violence and stabilize the nation.
He said Bush "needs to tell the American public a failed state in Iraq is a dramatic loss in the war on terror . . . We must stay, fight and win in Iraq. I reject timetables" for troop withdrawals.
"And any strategy that unites the country and we lose, I'm against," Graham said. "I'd rather be divided as a nation and win than united and lose."
Is Steven Hadley just about the smarmiest fucking little weasel this administration has ever trotted out to spew talking points????? Fuck I hate this little shithead
Hadley Says White House Considering Points Cited by Rumsfeld in Memo
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 3, 2006; 12:16 PM
President Bush is weighing a range of options in Iraq, including a partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from violence-plagued cities and a troop buildup near the Iranian and Syrian borders, his top security aide said today.
Bush is open to several possibilities because he realizes that "things are not proceeding well enough or fast enough in Iraq," national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley told ABC News' "This Week." "We have to make some changes."
Hadley said the president is considering the list of options cited in a Nov. 6 memo by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who announced his resignation two days later -- the day after Republicans suffered major setbacks in the congressional elections. The options included the positioning of substantial U.S. forces near the Iranian and Syrian borders, withdrawing U.S. troops from vulnerable positions, and starting modest drawdowns of American forces in a bid to encourage Iraqis "to pull up their socks, step up and take responsibility for their country."
"Of course they're being considered," Hadley said of the options. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "made very clear to the president that he and his unity government want to take more responsibility. That's what we've been seeking for three years now to get an Iraqi government that has the desire and the capability to step forward. They're not there yet. They face enormous challenges. They don't have all the tools that they need."
Some senior Democratic senators, who will be in the majority when the 110th Congress convenes next month, said the Bush administration continues to move too slowly in pressing Iraqis to assume control of their nation's security and future.
"I'd do the opposite of what the president did a month ago, when he picked up the phone and called Prime Minister Maliki and said, don't worry, we're staying," Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who is considering a presidential bid, told ABC. "I'd pick up the phone and say, 'You know what, we're not staying forever. You need to start getting your act together.' "
Bayh said Iraqis must "decide about the division of oil revenue, the role of religion, the role of the provinces versus the central government, the role of any former Baathists. These are only questions that you can decide. And if you do, we'll stand by you. . . . But if you don't, there's nothing we can do for you.' . . . To show that I meant business, I'd bring out a smaller group of troops now."
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), another possible presidential candidate and the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told "Fox News Sunday" that the Rumsfeld memo shows "there was a clear disconnect between what the administration has been saying the last year and what's been going on on the ground."
He said no one, including Rumsfeld, "thought the policy the president continues to pursue makes any sense."
Republican Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) took a different tack, saying the United States should send more troops to Iraq to quell the sectarian violence and stabilize the nation.
He said Bush "needs to tell the American public a failed state in Iraq is a dramatic loss in the war on terror . . . We must stay, fight and win in Iraq. I reject timetables" for troop withdrawals.
"And any strategy that unites the country and we lose, I'm against," Graham said. "I'd rather be divided as a nation and win than united and lose."
Is Steven Hadley just about the smarmiest fucking little weasel this administration has ever trotted out to spew talking points????? Fuck I hate this little shithead