Finally Bush may accept advice that isn't from yes men and women
Bush reaches beyond inner circle on Iraq policy By Tabassum Zakaria
1 hour, 42 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush reached on Thursday beyond his tight circle of trusted aides to solicit the views on Iraq of former secretaries of state and defense, including some who have publicly criticized his policy there.
The meeting took place as insurgent violence surged anew in Iraq, where two suicide bombers killed at least 110 people and wounded more than 200 in the cities of Kerbala and Ramadi. Seven U.S. soldiers were also killed in separate roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad and near Najaf.
"Not everybody around this table agreed with my decision to go into Iraq and I fully understand that," Bush said, adding that he had listened to their concerns and their suggestions about how to proceed. "I will take to heart the advice."
The group at a meeting with Bush, current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, were briefed by Gen. George Casey, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador there.
"It's an opportunity for these key leaders of previous administrations to hear about our plan for victory and hear about the progress we're making directly from our civilian and military leaders on the ground," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
"This is part of our efforts to broaden the outreach," he told reporters.
Bush has been emphasizing progress in Iraq after the December elections to an American public that has shown increasing discontent with the war in which more than 2,100 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqis have died.
Among those attending were Colin Powell, Bush's first secretary of state whose tenure was often marked by friction with the White House and the Pentagon on a range of foreign policy issues.
Since leaving the post, Powell has avoided publicly criticizing the president, but several of his aides have lashed out at Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Also at the meeting were William Perry, defense secretary in the administration of President Bill Clinton who was an adviser to Bush's 2004 election opponent, Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060105/pl_nm/iraq_bush_dc