Bush says U.S. ‘will prevail’ in Iraq

updated 1:04 p.m. ET Dec. 7, 2006

WASHINGTON - President Bush, standing alongside chief Iraq war ally Tony Blair of Britain, asserted Thursday that the coalition forces "will prevail" in Iraq, saying success depended on victory over extremists across the "broader Middle East."

The president acknowledged that, "It's bad in Iraq."

"It's a tough time and its a difficult moment for America and Great Britain and the task before us is daunting," Bush said a day after a bipartisan commission said his war policies have failed and called for a change in strategy.

The two leaders met a day after the Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton issued a report saying their war policies had failed and a major course correction was needed, including beginning to withdraw combat troops.

No major decisions until additional studies
Asked at a joint news conference when the president would start to carry out recommendations for a change, Bush noted that other studies were still under way by the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House National Security Council.

He said he would make major policy decisions "after I get the reports"

He called the Baker-Hamilton report "certainly an important part of our deliberations and an important part of our discussions this morning."

At the same time, Bush said, "I don't think Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton expect us to accept every recommendation."

Baker did say, earlier Thursday, he believes the study "is probably the only bipartisan report he's going to get and it's extremely important that we approach this issue in a bipartisan way."

The report, which contains 79 separate recommendations, says that Bush's Iraq policy is not working, warns the situation in Iraq is "grave and deteriorating" and calls for most US combat troops to be withdrawn by early 2008.

Major speech planned
Bush said he is planning to deliver a major speech to outline his decision for a new way forward.

"I think you're probably going to have to pay attention to my speech coming up here when I get all the recommendations," Bush said in a joint news conference with the British prime minister.

"I do know that we have not succeeded as fast as we wanted to succeed. I do understand that progress is not as rapid as I had hoped. And therefore it makes sense to analyze the situation and to devise a set of tactics and strategies to achieve the objective that I have stated," the president said.

Blair: 'Consequences of failure are severe'
"It's a tough time and its a difficult moment for America and Great Britain and the task before us is daunting," Bush said, even as members of the bipartisan commission were testifying on their report on Capitol Hill. Bush asserted that success in Iraq depends on victory over extremists across the "broader Middle East," apparently subscribing to one of the conclusions of the Baker-Hamilton report.

Blair, who has stood shoulder to shoulder with Bush since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, said he welcomed the conclusions of the Iraq Study Group despite its criticism of past policies that both he and Bush advanced.

It "offers a strong way forward," Blair said.

"The consequences of failure are severe," he added.

Bush appeared to endorse the panel's conclusion that any resolution of the Iraq conflict is tied to reducing tensions between Israel and the Palestinians and across the broader Middle East — a position Blair has long held.

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Lieberman to keep committee chair Lessons of the Lieberman saga GOP's Stevens loses Alaska Senate seat Sources: Obama taps Holder as attorney general Walter: Obama budgeting political capital NBC: Holder tagged for attorney general New House Dems wary on taxes, bailout Obama girls visit schools, White House Cook: Obama showing a steady hand Lawmakers choose GOP, Dem leaders for '09 Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: