Advisory panel pleads for consensus on new Iraq strategy

Calling the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating," a blue-ribbon advisory panel on Wednesday urged Congress and the White House to close ranks on a new strategy to stabilize the country and allow most U.S. combat troops to withdraw by early 2008 -- or risk a "slide toward chaos [that] could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe."

President Bush's "current approach is not working, and the ability of the United States to influence events is diminishing," former Rep. Lee Hamilton, co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, told a Capitol Hill news conference. The group's other leader, former Secretary of State James Baker, said Congress and the White House "must cooperate,'' and that decisions should be made "with some urgency" because of the worsening conditions there.

The Baker-Hamilton group issued a report containing 79 policy recommendations, several of which Bush already has rejected. The group urged the administration to pursue a diplomatic initiative by the end of the month to enlist help from neighboring countries, including Iran and Syria, to stabilize Iraq. Although Bush has not favored direct talks with Iran and Syria, Baker said it is essential to "talk to your enemies, not just your friends."

With the diplomatic effort, more U.S. forces could be directed toward training and supporting Iraqi forces, the group said, adding: "As these actions proceed, U.S. combat forces could begin to move out of Iraq."

It also recommended cutting "political, military or economic support" for Iraq if the central government cannot make "substantial progress" toward providing for its own security. On the divisive issue of troop withdrawals, the group warned against either a precipitous pullback or an open-ended commitment to a large deployment.

Immediate reaction on Capitol Hill split along partisan lines, with some Democrats seizing on the group's rejection of a "stay the course" approach, and Republicans warning against negotiating with adversaries.

"If the president is serious about the need for change in Iraq, he will find Democrats ready to work with him in a bipartisan fashion to find a way to end the war as quickly as possible," said incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Senate Armed Services ranking member Carl Levin, D-Mich., who will take over as chairman next month, said the group endorsed changing course in Iraq "in a number of important ways," including using force reductions to press Iraqi leaders toward political reconciliation -- an idea he has championed and Republicans have denounced.

Outgoing House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he was pleased there was no call for a firm deadline for a troop withdrawal, but warned the United States should not "give in to the notion that it is in our interests to strike deals with our enemies."

The group's nonbinding report puts pressure on Bush to change current policy soon, but the White House is still awaiting separate reviews of Iraq policy options by the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council. Bush, who received Wednesday's report in an early morning meeting at the White House with commission members, pledged to treat each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion."

At presstime, Bush was meeting at the White House with the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. The White House says Bush intends to make decisions within weeks and Democrats are hoping he will move in the direction recommended by the Baker-Hamilton group.

"The president has the ball in his court now ... and we're going to be watching very closely,'' incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.