Bush: ‘I’m not going to be rushed’ on Iraq shift

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday said the enemy in Iraq is “far from being defeated,” and vowed to be patient in adjusting his strategy, giving little indication that he intends to veer sharply from the direction his war policies have taken. "I’m not going to be rushed into making a difficult decision ... a necessary decision," he said.

The U.S. Army, meanwhile, has drawn up orders to send an additional 7,000 combat troops from the 1st Infantry Division to Iraq by early next year, NBC News has learned.

The new troops would be part of a short-term surge of up to 35,000 new U.S. forces. Most would be used as military trainers, embedded with Iraqi military and police.

A second, far riskier proposal is what one military official called the “do or die” option — one designed to force the Iraqi government to get control over Shiite militias responsible for much of the sectarian killings in Baghdad.

“We’re not going to give up. The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave,” Bush said after meeting at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Rumsfeld’s designated successor, Robert Gates, who will be sworn in on Monday.

There are competing schools of thought inside the military and the administration on whether a short-term increase in U.S. troop strength in Iraq would be enough to quell the sectarian warfare in Baghdad.

After a third straight day of soliciting war advice from top military and diplomatic officials, Bush gave no clue as to whether he will include that in his forthcoming plan. Some generals believe it would be too little, too late, in a war that already has claimed more than 2,900 U.S. lives.

Under the do-or-die plan, the U.S. military would withdraw most of its forces from urban areas, including Baghdad. The Iraqi military, with those embedded U.S. trainers, would then take over security.

That would free up more American combat forces to launch an all-out offensive against al-Qaida and Sunnni extremists in Anbar province.

NBC: Iraq government in talks with Mahdi Army
But the entire strategy hinges on the cooperation of the Shiite militias. NBC News has learned that the Iraqi government is now engaged in sensitive cease-fire talks with those militias — including cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Bush said he was considering a wide range of options he has heard during a week of consultations, while rejecting ideas “that would lead to defeat.” He said the rejected ideas included “leaving before the job is done, ideas such as not helping this (Iraqi) government” to function and gain Iraqis’ confidence.

“But one thing people have got to understood is we’ll be headed toward achieving our objectives,” he said. “And I repeat: If we lose our nerve, if we’re not steadfast in our determination to help the Iraqi government succeed, we will be handing Iraq over to an enemy that would do us harm.”

Calls for ‘necessary ... hard steps’
"I've heard some ideas that would lead to defeat, and I reject those ideas," Bush said after meeting with top generals and Defense Department officials at the Pentagon. He said those ideas included "leaving before the job is done, ideas such as not helping this (Iraqi) government take the necessary and hard steps to be able to do its job."

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

U.S. deficit sets October record of $176.4 billion Obama team reaches out to airline industry Jobless claims fall to lowest level since January Source: U.S. envoy objects to troop increase Oral history of Bush presidency planned Diplomats question role of Iran nuke plant   Palin: McCain aides kept me ‘bottled up’ Tough choices on abortion coverage Of bats and billions: Following stimulus funds For Obama, defining China is a challenge Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: