"Bush ready to change 'tactics,' not goals, He meets with Congress leaders, awaits more advice"

[jody]

Bush ready to change 'tactics,' not goals, He meets with Congress leaders, awaits more advice

President Bush is willing to change U.S. "tactics" in Iraq once he hears recommendations from his military and diplomatic advisers, but he doesn't intend to scale back his basic goals, his spokesman said Friday.

"What the president has said is: 'We need new tactics,' " Snow told reporters. "Now what he will not change is ... the goal, stated by the president: an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. What is important and is open for wide-ranging review is: What's the best way to do it?"

For example, Pentagon planners have long agreed with the Baker-Hamilton panel that American troops should focus on training and advising Iraqi units, and gradually withdraw from direct combat in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.

The “Iraq Study Group Report” says Bush has failed on “National Reconciliation” meaning getting Shiites and Sunni to make love not war.

“Sunni insurgents” are those seeking to overthrow the government controlled by Shiites (Shiites are over 60% of the population and aligned with Iran).

“Shiite militias” are irregular forces that defend the Shia government against Sunni insurgents (Sunni are over 20% of the population and aligned with Saudi Arabia).

If Bush’s military tactics have failed to achieve National Reconciliation, then how can that goal be achieved by training Iraq’s predominantly Shia military forces to use those same tactics against Sunni insurgents?
:shrug:

[Toots]

1. Who writes these headlines anyway?

Congress is not an adjective or adverb. I suspect they meant Congressional Leaders and not Congress Leaders. They do the same with the noun Democrat. They seem to get off on flaunting their ignorance...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. has he EVER said precisely what those goals were, by the way?

I have searched, read, researched and read more, and never have I seen any list of goals.

[jody]

3. ISG report says “govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself” under "I. Assessment".

D. Achieving Our Goals
We agree with the goal of U.S. policy in Iraq, as stated by the President: an Iraq that can “govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself.” In our view, this definition entails an Iraq with a broadly representative government that maintains its territorial integrity, is at peace with its neighbors, denies terrorism a sanctuary, and doesn’t brutalize its own people. Given the current situation in Iraq, achieving this goal will require much time and will depend primarily on the actions of the Iraqi people.