WASHINGTON — Although President Bush has rejected proposals for direct talks with Syria and Iran over the future of Iraq, officials in his administration are working to find a way to include those countries in negotiations in a way that might be acceptable to Bush.
The president and top aides have insisted they will not talk to Iran until it suspends its nuclear program, and they have shunned Syria over its meddling in Lebanon. However, the White House has come under growing domestic and international pressure to negotiate with the two countries as it revamps its troubled strategy in Iraq.
Bush plans to address the nation within days on a new U.S. war strategy, which is expected to involve additional troops and stepped-up pressure on the government in Baghdad to devise political compromises to share power and oil revenue.
Last month, the Iraq Study Group, a U.S. commission whose report has topped best-seller lists, urged the administration to hold talks with Iran and Syria as a necessary step toward addressing the violence in Iraq and potential instability throughout the Middle East.
The White House brushed off the panel's recommendation that the diplomatic efforts begin before the end of 2006. But administration officials said a new multinational effort not yet underway could involve Iran and Syria.
One U.S. official familiar with administration talks said there was substantial support for "revitalizing" the effort to involve influential neighbors in seeking solutions on Iraq.
"This is something that Iran and Syria could be part of, if they wanted, but that would not be seen as us reaching out specifically to them," said the official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The official said the effort might entail expanding a United Nations-led effort to help Iraq's economy "into the political realm" -- allowing regional neighbors and world powers to use their influence to calm sectarian violence.
By including political issues, the new effort would be broader than either the U.N.-led effort, called the International Compact for Iraq, or a U.S.-led collaboration involving the United States, six Persian Gulf Arab states, Jordan and Egypt.
Those familiar with the White House discussions said they weren't certain whether any such diplomatic initiative would be announced as part of the shift in Iraq strategy that Bush is expected to lay out in his upcoming speech. One official speculated that any announcement would come later in the year.
