Weakened Bush firm on Iran, Syria, Iraq

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush, sticking to his guns despite a stinging election defeat, rejected calls for new overtures to Iran and Syria and opposed a fixed timetable for a US withdrawal from Iraq.

Separately, the US State Department confirmed that it had given up for now on an offer to hold talks with Iran on the situation in Iraq as a stand-alone issue apart from the Islamic republic's suspected nuclear weapons program.

Bush met behind closed doors with a heavyweight commission tasked with coming up with a new, politically feasible ways to fight and win the unpopular war and said later that he eagerly expected their "interesting ideas."

"I believe it is very important, though, for people making suggestions to recognize that the best military options depend upon the conditions on the ground," he said as he met later with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

That kept Bush on a collision course with opposition Democrats, who captured the US Congress on November 7 and have quickly vowed to push ahead with a phased withdrawal of US troops within four to six months.

Bush's comments came after a private meeting with the Iraq Study Group, led by former US secretary of state James Baker and former Democratic lawmaker Lee Hamilton, that is expected to unveil far-reaching Iraq advice next month.

The panel, which will also interview Democrats, has been reportedly considering proposals that include a call for the United States and its allies to make new diplomatic overtures to Iran and Syria to help US-led efforts in Iraq and Middle East peacemaking in general.

But Bush and Olmert jointly rejected making new overtures to Iran and Syria unless Tehran forswears sensitive nuclear work and Damascus changes its Lebanon policy, and both take steps to help pacify Iraq and build a democracy there.

"If the Iranians want to have a dialogue with us, we have shown them a way forward, and that is for them to verifiably suspend their enrichment activities," said Bush.

The US president also called for a renewed global effort to punish Iran if it does not freeze sensitive nuclear activities that the West fears are part of an atomic weapons program.

"It's very important for the world to unite with one common voice to say to the Iranians that, if you choose to continue forward, you'll be isolated," Bush added. "There has to be a consequence for their intransigence."

"We would love to be able to have negotiations with Syria, but that must be based on a certain reasonable, responsible policy, which is not preformed by Syria for the time being," said Olmert.

Looking to the Baker/Hamilton panel's advice, Bush said he would not "prejudge" their report.

"I believe this: I believe that it's important for us to succeed in Iraq, not only for our security but for the security of the Middle East, and that I'm looking forward to interesting ideas," said the president.

Bush said that General Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was leading Pentagon efforts to overhaul an Iraq strategy that even the White House says has not worked as well or as quickly as had been hoped.

"It's not getting better fast enough. And so you need to find ways, militarily and otherwise, to try to improve the situation," said Bush spokesman Tony Snow.

At the US State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed that an offer to de-link Iraq from nuclear issues in talks with Iran was frozen indefinitely.

"That particular channel didn't work out. If in the future we want to avail ourselves of that channel, then that is certainly a possibility, but I don't think that right now that is something that is under consideration," said McCormack.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.