WASHINGTON — President Bush said Friday that he's willing to change U.S. "tactics" in Iraq once he hears recommendations from his military and diplomatic advisors, but he doesn't intend to scale back his basic goals, his spokesman said.
Bush met Friday morning with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders and said the nation needs "a new way forward in Iraq." Aides said the president will receive proposals from the Defense and State departments next week and plans to propose a set of "policy adjustments" in a speech the week before Christmas.
One of the Democrats who met with Bush, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), said he was disappointed.
"When he talked about his approach to Iraq, there was no indication of a change in basic strategy," Durbin said. "He talked about changing some tactics."
White House spokesman Tony Snow acknowledged that the changes Bush was considering would be limited.
"What the president has said is: 'We need new tactics,' " Snow told reporters. "Now what he will not change is ... the goal, stated by the president: an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. What is important and is open for wide-ranging reviews is: What's the best way to do it?"
Snow and other senior officials refused to discuss the proposals that would be presented to Bush next week.
"I've been doing some deep thinking on Iraq -- which, if you don't mind, I'll share first with the president," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is scheduled to discuss the issues with Bush on Monday.
Still, in responding to the recommendations of a bipartisan commission on Iraq this week, officials have suggested the rough outlines of at least some of the measures they are considering.
In some respects, the administration's thinking comes close to the recommendations of the commission led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.); in others, it conflicts.
For example, Pentagon planners have long agreed with the Baker-Hamilton panel that American troops should increasingly focus on training and advising Iraqi units, and gradually withdraw from direct combat in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.
"As we transition to Iraqi control and as I hope that we'll see us moving out of some of the major metropolitan areas ... I think we could [increase training] a lot faster than many people would believe," Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of U.S. and allied ground forces in Iraq, said in a briefing.
