Pentagon eyeing further deployments to Iraq

updated 8:54 p.m. ET Nov. 29, 2006

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan commission has reached a consensus on new U.S. policies for Iraq and will announce its recommendations next Wednesday, the group's co-chairman said Wednesday. The commission's report comes as the Pentagon is developing plans to send four more Army battalions to Iraq early next year, including some to Baghdad, defense officials said Wednesday.

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, a Democrat, would not reveal specifics of the panel's decisions. But its report has been much anticipated by the Bush administration and members of Congress at a time when spiraling violence in Iraq has raised questions about the viability of the Iraqi government and U.S. policy in the deeply unpopular war

"This afternoon, we reached a consensus, ... and we will announce that on Dec. 6," Hamilton told a forum on national security at the Center for American Progress, a liberal group.

Hamilton said the Iraq Study Group, which he and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III head, completed its work, and "we're making recommendations." He declined to reveal specifics, but the panel's report has been much anticipated by the Bush administration and members of Congress.

The extra reserve combat engineer battalions planned by the Pentagon would total about 3,500 troops and come from around the United States, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployments have not been announced.

The plan comes as violence continues to rise in Iraq, and President Bush is under growing pressure to craft an exit strategy to withdraw substantial numbers of U.S. troops while shifting more responsibility to the Iraqi government. Even so, top military commanders have said they would consider increasing U.S. troops, at least temporarily, if they deemed it necessary.

"This afternoon, we reached a consensus ... and we will announce that on December 6," Hamilton told a forum on national security at the Center for American Progress, a liberal group.

Panel may call for Syria, Iran as players
The commission is widely expected to call for regional talks as part of its recommendations, including involvement by Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been reluctant to engage those two countries, which it says have abetted the violence in Iraq.

It remained unclear what the group would recommend regarding possible U.S. troop withdrawals. As of Tuesday, its members — five Democrats and five Republicans — were divided over the appropriate U.S. troop levels in Iraq, and whether and how to pull American forces out, according to one official close to the panel's deliberations.

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