The Scotsman
AN INFLUENTIAL United States commission is set to recommend a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq when it delivers its report early next year.
The Iraq Study Group (ISG), headed by James Baker, a former Secretary of State in president George H Bush's government, is expected to advise the current president to change his policy.
The recommendations are understood to include a new strategy of "Redeploy and Contain," which would see US forces gradually withdrawn from Iraq to bases elsewhere in the region.
Although the report will not advocate a hasty withdrawal, it confirms the emerging consensus in Washington that George W Bush's determination to "stay the course" regardless of mounting casualties, increased violence in Iraq and public dissatisfaction with the war, is no longer a seriously tenable option.
The group is also considering another option, called "Stability First", which would advise securing Baghdad, while bringing Iran and Syria to the table to use their influence to end the insurgency crippling efforts to bring peace to Iraq.
"The bottom line is, [the current policy] isn't working... There's got to be another way," one participant in the ISG meetings said. "You can't come out of those briefings and not have a sense that things are in real bad shape.
"The bottom line is, it's not working. They know that. And they know that time is not on their side."
The report will deal a fresh blow to Tony Blair, who has insisted that British forces would stay the course in Iraq.
At a Downing Street briefing, Mr Blair said he would be "absolutely astonished" if Mr Baker's commission called for troops to pull out of Iraq "come what may". The Prime Minister's case for staying the course suffered a massive setback last week when General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the army, warned that the presence of British troops was exacerbating the problems. However, Mr Blair stressed that Sir Richard was not calling for the immediate withdrawal of British troops. .....
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