:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 12.27.2006 ::

:: "ANALYSIS-Bush digging in heels on Iraq course change" ::

Reuters AlertNet, UK
By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Just weeks after pledging a new approach in the Iraq war in the wake of his party's defeat in congressional elections, U.S. President George W. Bush seems to be digging in his heels against any major change of course.

Bush is spending the holiday week in consultations at his Texas ranch preparing for one of the most fateful moments of his presidency, a policy speech early in the new year charting what he has called "a new way forward" in Iraq.

Even as he gives the impression of seriously considering a range of ideas on how to handle an increasingly unpopular war that has killed nearly 3,000 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis, Bush has made clear some options are off-limits.

He has brushed aside a proposal from a bipartisan panel to ask U.S. foes Iran and Syria for help in stabilizing Iraq and, instead of talking about a U.S. troop reduction, he is said to be looking closely at a temporary increase.

That has critics predicting that Bush, who prides himself in sticking to decisions, will announce little real change.

"He is now caught between admitting the war was a mistake and his policy has failed, or trying to tough it out," said Joseph Cirincione, a foreign policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank.

"It looks like the president would rather let the whole operation go down in flames than admit he was wrong."

Read more here.

posted by me

:: 10:53:00 AM [+] ::
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