WASHINGTON — Launching a highly visible round of consultations as he seeks to reshape the U.S. role in Iraq, President Bush reiterated Monday that "success" there was crucial to the long-term protection of the United States, and said Iraq's regional neighbors had a responsibility to help the country's fledgling government.
Bush met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and State Department officials, then with three retired Army generals and two outside policy experts, opening a week of conferences before announcing a new direction in Iraq.
In the aftermath of last week's sharply critical report by the Iraq Study Group, the White House is eager to draw the spotlight to other ideas and options more in keeping with Bush's goals.
Bush continues his policy review today and Wednesday, with meetings and teleconferences with U.S. military commanders and Iraqi officials, including Iraqi Vice President Tariq Hashimi, the head of the largest party representing Iraq's Sunni Arab minority, and a briefing at the Pentagon on military options.
The in-depth review comes after the report by the Iraq Study Group, a commission formed at the suggestion of Congress and originally blessed by the White House.
The panel concluded that conditions in Iraq were "grave and deteriorating," and recommended action to hand over more responsibilities to the Iraqis and withdraw most U.S. combat forces by 2008.
Bush last week voiced antipathy toward the key Iraq Study Group recommendations, which also include initiating talks with Iran and Syria, and leaning on the Iraqi government to settle political squabbles.
He then announced this week's battery of meetings as part of "extensive consultations" with experts inside and outside the government.
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'The neighborhood'
Speaking with reporters at the State Department after the meetings there, Bush said that he and the advisors talked about "the neighborhood -- the countries that surround Iraq and the responsibilities that they have."
That group includes Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and Syria.
At lower levels, officials at the State Department are divided over whether talks with Iran and Syria could significantly help stabilize Iraq, as the Baker-Hamilton panel suggested. But at the top level, Rice and her closest aides are vigorously skeptical about the idea.
Last Friday, Rice told reporters who asked about her response to the Baker-Hamilton report:
