Text 25005, 92 rader
Skriven 2006-11-12 19:20:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Democrats
=================
First they said they wouldn't cut and run, now they are already talking about
withdraw.  They breathe, therefore they lie.  The US public will not accept
their corwardice and defeat.

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http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-1
1-12T170830Z_01_N20203713_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-1.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

Democrats say will push for Iraq withdrawal
Sun Nov 12, 2006 12:08pm ET

By Tabassum Zakaria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats, who won control of the U.S. Congress, said on
Sunday they will push for a phased withdrawal of American troops from Iraq to
begin in four to six months, but the White House cautioned against fixing
timetables.

"First order of business is to change the direction of Iraq policy," said Sen.
Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is expected to be chairman of the Senate
Armed Services Committee in the new Congress.

Democrats will press President George W. Bush's administration to tell the
Iraqi government that U.S. presence was "not open-ended, and that, as a matter
of fact, we need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to
six months," Levin said on ABC's "This Week" program.


Bush has insisted that U.S. troops would not leave until Iraqis were able to
take over security for their country, and has repeatedly rejected setting a
timetable for withdrawal because, he says, that would only embolden the
insurgents.

The White House said, however, that Bush is open to new ideas. Bush will meet
on Monday with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that is expected to recommend
alternative policies in its final report.

A suicide bomber killed 35 people at a police recruiting center in Iraq on
Sunday in the bloodiest attack in months against recruits.

More than 2,800 American troops have been killed in Iraq since the 2003
U.S.-led invasion and the unpopular war was a key factor in last week's
elections in which Bush's Republican Party lost majorities in the Senate and
the House of Representatives.

White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten said it was important that any action be
taken in a way to ensure that Iraq can succeed and have a democratic government
that can sustain and defend itself.

"It's hard for me to see how that can be done on a fixed timetable," Bolten
said on ABC's "This Week" program. "But the president's open to fresh ideas
here. Everybody's reviewing the situation."

Bush has asked Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff,
to conduct a review at the Pentagon of Iraq strategy, and other national
security agencies to do similar reviews, Bolten said.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said "we need to redeploy," but
that the decision should be made by military officers in Iraq.


He said on "Face The Nation" program on CBS that he would not insist on a
specific date for drawing down troops, but that a withdrawal should start
within the next few months.

The White House says Bush is not to receive final recommendations from the Iraq
Study Group -- led by James Baker, a former secretary of state with close ties
to the Bush family -- in the Monday meeting.

Bush chose a member of that panel, former CIA Director Robert Gates, to replace
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose resignation was announced the day
after elections gave control of Congress to Democrats for the first time since
1994.

Sen. Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat who is expected to head the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, said he was inclined to support Gates, whose
nomination requires Senate approval.

"I know some of his views on Iraq. I know he wasn't of the Rumsfeld school. And
to put it very, very bluntly, as long as he's not there, Rumsfeld is there,"
Biden said on ABC.

Biden called for an international conference on Iraq, that would include Iran,
Syria and Turkey.

(Additional reporting by Missy Ryan)

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

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