Iraq report to dominate Bush-Blair talks

WASHINGTON – US President George W Bush was set to host British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House yesterday for talks likely to focus on a hard-hitting report that urged a strategic change in Iraq.

Bush on Wednesday received the report from the Iraq Study Group, led by former US secretary of state James Baker, warning that even a sharp change of policy on Iraq may not avert a regional conflict. The president and the prime minister “have a number of issues to discuss, including Iraq, the broader war on terror, the Nato commitment to Afghanistan, Sudan, as well as free and fair trade,” said Bush national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.US and British officials have steadfastly denied that Blair’s visit was timed to coincide with the release of the grim Iraq report.White House officials said a frenetic schedule over the past month – including the November US congressional elections, and Bush trips to Asia, Europe and the Middle East – had stymied long-standing plans for a meeting.But the report – which bluntly says Bush’s Iraq policy is “not working”, warns that the situation in Iraq is “grave and deteriorating” and calls for most US combat troops to be withdrawn by early 2008 – is likely to dominate their roughly hour-long meeting.British media yesterday welcomed the report, but were not convinced that Bush would actually adopt most of the committee’s recommendations.The two leaders, shoulder-to-shoulder on the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, have opposed setting a timetable for pulling out US and British forces.There are currently some 135 000 US soldiers and 7 100 British soldiers serving in Iraq.But there are disagreements between the two on some world issues, notably over Bush’s resistance to set carbon-dioxide emission limits to cut down polluting greenhouse gasses, and over the link between the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iraq.Blair on Wednesday said that strife-torn Iraq can yet be salvaged – but as part of a wider Middle East strategy centered on the peace process.”We have to pursue what I call a policy for the whole Middle East, and that means in particular and starting with finding a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which I think is absolutely essential if we are to put that region on a stable footing.”That chimed with a key Iraq Study Group finding that the United States cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional instability.Does Bush agree that the two conflicts are closely linked? “I don’t know,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow.”The commission thinks that there clearly is a link here, and that to the extent that you get resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, that can only be helpful.The president believes that,” he told reporters.Nampa-AFPThe president and the prime minister “have a number of issues to discuss, including Iraq, the broader war on terror, the Nato commitment to Afghanistan, Sudan, as well as free and fair trade,” said Bush national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.US and British officials have steadfastly denied that Blair’s visit was timed to coincide with the release of the grim Iraq report.White House officials said a frenetic schedule over the past month – including the November US congressional elections, and Bush trips to Asia, Europe and the Middle East – had stymied long-standing plans for a meeting.But the report – which bluntly says Bush’s Iraq policy is “not working”, warns that the situation in Iraq is “grave and deteriorating” and calls for most US combat troops to be withdrawn by early 2008 – is likely to dominate their roughly hour-long meeting.British media yesterday welcomed the report, but were not convinced that Bush would actually adopt most of the committee’s recommendations.The two leaders, shoulder-to-shoulder on the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, have opposed setting a timetable for pulling out US and British forces.There are currently some 135 000 US soldiers and 7 100 British soldiers serving in Iraq.But there are disagreements between the two on some world issues, notably over Bush’s resistance to set carbon-dioxide emission limits to cut down polluting greenhouse gasses, and over the link between the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iraq.Blair on Wednesday said that strife-torn Iraq can yet be salvaged – but as part of a wider Middle East strategy centered on the peace process.”We have to pursue what I call a policy for the whole Middle East, and that means in particular and starting with finding a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which I think is absolutely essential if we are to put that region on a stable footing.”That chimed with a key Iraq Study Group finding that the United States cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional instability.Does Bush agree that the two conflicts are closely linked? “I don’t know,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow.”The commission thinks that there clearly is a link here, and that to the extent that you get resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, that can only be helpful.The president believes that,” he told reporters.Nampa-AFP