Iraq braces for U.S. shift in war

BAGHDAD, Iraq — With President Bush set to meet Monday with a bipartisan Iraq study group co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker, Iraqis are bracing for a significant shift in U.S. strategy as the White House considers a bevy of ideas, proposals and options on how to move forward in Iraq.

After Tuesday's overwhelming Democratic election victory and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's abrupt resignation, Iraq's parliamentarians and political operatives believe that the U.S. approach to their war-torn country is about to undergo a major overhaul.

But the view from Baghdad is that many of the proposals floating around Washington-such as a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, using U.S. forces only in emergencies from outside the country, or persuading Iran and Syria to get more involved — are fraught with problems, none assuring a certain and quick solution.

"It is probably a good thing for Iraq that there has been this big change in Washington, because it will force the Bush administration to consider new ideas," said parliamentarian Haider al-Ebadi, a senior member of the Shiite Dawa Party. "The concern is that Washington will impose changes too fast and further than the Iraqis are ready to go."

On Friday, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the military would be doing its own review of its Iraq strategy.

"We have to give ourselves a good honest scrub about what is working and what is not working, what are the impediments to progress and what should we change about the way we are doing it to make sure that we get to the objective that we set for ourselves," Pace told CBS's "Early Show."

Said Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, "The president said the other day that what was going on in Iraq in terms of our efforts (was) not working well enough and not working fast enough. And the question is, that being the judgment, how can we do better? And I think there's an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to share some ideas on how to do that."

The 10-member Iraqi Study Group, led by Baker and former Sen. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., has made several fact-finding missions to Iraq and has interviewed hundreds of officials and experts since it was formed in March. Before the end of the year, it is expected to hand President Bush a set of recommendations on how to accelerate progress in Iraq.

Baker is a longtime confidante and adviser to the president's father, President George H.W. Bush. Robert Gates, the former CIA director picked by the president to replace Rumsfeld, also has been a member of the group, although White House spokesman Tony Snow said Friday he would be resigning from the panel.