President George W. Bush was preparing Monday to explore a revised approach to the war in Iraq, including possible engagement with Syria and Iran, following a Democratic wave in last week's congressional elections that many interpreted as a rebuke of his Iraq policy.
Bush was set to meet with the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton. The group, which also includes former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and CIA director-turned-defense-secretary nominee Robert Gates, had not yet scheduled delivery of its final report to the president.
British reports indicated Prime Minister Tony Blair urged Bush by telephone to bring Iraq's neighbors, including Syria and Iran, into stabilization efforts as sectarian violence continued to escalate inside the country.
Leading Senate Democrats, including Carl Levin and Joe Biden, both poised to chair major Senate committees in January, called for a phased drawdown of US forces to begin within four to six months. Levin argued the election results showed Americans wanted a change of direction, saying the military commitment there is "not open-ended."
Biden added that Washington should press Baghdad to reach political compromises on oil revenue, federalism, and militias, and said he would support bringing Iran, Syria, and Türkiye into an international conference on Iraq's future.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.