President George W. Bush called on Democrats and Republicans on Saturday to work together on a new strategy for the war in Iraq after a high-level group said the administration's current approach was not working.
"Now it is the responsibility of all of us in Washington, Republicans and Democrats alike, to come together and find greater consensus on the best way forward," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Bush is under pressure for a shift in strategy in the unpopular war with sectarian violence rising and a growing number of Americans unhappy with his handling of the conflict. As part of his review, Bush meets on Monday with senior officials at the State Department and then in the Oval Office with a number of outside experts on Iraq.
On Tuesday, he holds a videoconference with US military commanders in Baghdad and US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. He visits the Pentagon on Wednesday to talk to senior defence officials.
Bush is cool to recommendations from the Iraq Study Group that US combat troops be withdrawn from Iraq by early 2008 and that the United States hold direct talks with Iran and Syria. He seized, however, on parts of the report with which he agrees.
"The Iraq Study Group's report also explicitly endorses the strategic goal we've set in Iraq: an Iraq that can 'govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself,'" Bush said.
The bipartisan panel on Wednesday called the situation in Iraq "grave and deteriorating" and issued a report with 79 recommendations urging the United States to begin a regional diplomatic effort and boost US forces training of Iraqi army units.
James Baker, co-chairman of the group and a confidant of Bush's father, urged the administration not to pick only the recommendations it liked and instead accept the whole package. While the president said he would consider all of the group's recommendations, he also said he would await other reviews by the Pentagon, State Department and National Security Council expected soon.
"I want to hear all advice as I make the decisions to chart a new course in Iraq," Bush said. Sectarian violence has continued largely unabated in Iraq. More than 2,900 US troops have died and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat and incoming chairman of the House intelligence committee, said his party was ready to work with Bush and backed some of the panel's suggestions, such as retooling the troops' mission and launching a regional diplomatic effort.
"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," he said in his party's radio address.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Friday the administration was aiming for its review to be completed soon so the president could hopefully address the nation on a new plan for Iraq before the Christmas holiday.
"The future of a vital region of the world and the security of the American people depend on victory in Iraq," Bush said. "I'm confident that we can move beyond our political differences and come together to achieve that victory."
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