Bush and Blair admit they need new direction in Iraq

U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged Thursday a new approach is needed to secure peace in Iraq.

Bush, who spoke at a news conference in Washington withBlair, said victory in Iraq may depend on the larger goal of curbing the power of extremists in the Middle East.

"It's a tough time and it's a difficult moment for America and Great Britain and the task before us is daunting," Bush said. "We stand together because we understand the only way to establish a lasting peace for our children and grandchildren is to defeat the extremist ideologies."

The two leaders met at the White House on Thursday to talk about a bipartisan panel's report that identifies an urgent need to revamp the current strategy in Iraq.

Bush and Blair, described as "old friends" by Bush, are close allies in the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

Bush said the report released by the Iraq Study Group will be considered, along with other studies,when his administration decides upon a new course in the war.

Bushdeclined to say exactly when that wouldbe but he did sayhe would not likely acceptall 79 recommendationsof the report.

"The American people expect us to come up with a new strategy," Bush said. "I believe we need a new approach and that's why I've tasked the Pentagon to analyze the way forward."

Bush said the Pentagon, U.S. State Department andWhite HouseNational Security Council are conducting studies on what to do about Iraq and those internal reviews will alsohelp the administration decide.

Both leaders said it is crucial for them to support the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to help Iraq become a functioning country again.

"It's badin Iraq," Bush said. "I've been telling the American people how tough it is and they understand how tough it is. The question is, 'Do we have the ability to change as the enemy has changed?' "

Blair said he welcomed the recommendations of the report.

'A strong way forward'

"It offers a strong way forward,"Blair said."I think it is important now that we concentrate on the elements that are necessary to make sure we succeed because the consequences of failure are severe, and I think this is a mission we can succeed in and we will succeed in."

Bush and Blair acknowledged that peace in what Bush called the "broader Middle East" is important to securing peace in Iraq.

"I appreciate your clear view that we are confronted with a struggle between moderation and extremism and this is particularly evident in the broader Middle East," Bush told Blair.

Bush said extremists are at work trying to destabilize governments in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.

"In each of these places, radicals are using terror to stop the spread of freedom," he said. "The rise of free and democratic societies in the Middle East would be a decisive blow to their goal."

Bush said the violence in Iraq is linked to the extremism in these countries.

"Violence is a deliberate strategy," he said.

Blair said three things must be done to improve conditions in Iraq:

• The U.S. and British governments must support the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and make sure that its "non-sectarian nature" is reflected in its policies.
• Countries working in Iraq and countries in the region must support the government to ensure it is able to proceed in a democratic and non-sectarian way.
• There needs to be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Iraq Study Group released its report on Wednesday, recommending that the U.S. engage Syria and Iran to resolve the "grave and deteriorating" situation in Iraq.

Blair was interviewed by members of the study group before it issued its report on Wednesday. Blair, who arrived in Washington on Wednesday night, is in the U.S. for a single day.

According to aides, the meeting between the two had been planned for weeks and it was a coincidence the meeting closely followed the release of the report.

Britain, for its part, has already begun to pull some of its troops out of Iraq.

According to the report, the U.S. should speed up training of Iraqi security forces and conduct a "diplomatic offensive" to stabilize the country.

It's hoped this would allow for the withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008. The report does not provide an exact timeline for withdrawal of troops, however.

The U.S. focus on Iraq has "necessarily diverted attention from Afghanistan," the report said, adding that a troop withdrawal could allow the U.S. to bolster its contribution to NATO's Afghan mission, which includes more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers fighting the Taliban.

Bleak picture

The report painted a bleak picture of Iraq nearly four years after U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein. During that time, the U.S. government has spent about $400 billion US in Iraq, it says.

It calls for the creation of an Iraq support group including "all of Iraq's neighbours and key states in and outside the region," including the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, as well as Egypt, Syria and Iran.

Bush said he knowsthe U.S.needs to change direction in Iraq.

"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,"he said.

The United States has about 141,000 troops in Iraq. Nearly 2,900 U.S. military personnel have been killed in Iraq and more than 21,000 have been wounded.

Britain, meanwhile, has about 7,200 troops in Iraq, mainly stationed in the southeast of Iraq, around Basra. A total of 125 British troops have been killed.

Twenty-six other countries have about 9,000 troops deployed in Iraq.

Thousands of Iraqis have died in the conflict. The Iraqi Health Ministry estimated in November 2006 that between 100,000and 150,000 Iraqis have died.