dup post

[rpgamerd00d]

Bush reaches beyond inner circle on Iraq policy

Thu Jan 5, 3:56 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush, who has been criticized for consulting with only a tight circle of trusted aides, is soliciting the views of former secretaries of state and defense, some of whom have doubted his Iraq policy.

The group will meet Bush on Thursday and will be briefed by Gen. George Casey, the U.S. commander in Iraq, as well as Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador there.

"The president initiated an effort to broaden the outreach," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "It is an opportunity to talk about our plan for victory in Iraq, and the progress we're making and the challenges ahead."

"This will also be an opportunity to hear from some former key leaders of previous administrations," he added.

Among those attending will be 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 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Also at the meeting will be 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.

Other former secretaries of state from both Republican and Democratic administrations who have accepted the White House invitation include Madeleine Albright, Lawrence Eagleburger, James Baker, George Shultz and Alexander Haig.

Former secretaries of defense include William Cohen, Frank Carlucci, James Schlesinger, Harold Brown, Melvin Laird and Robert McNamara.

McNamara, 89, served under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Although he was a key architect of early U.S. policy in Vietnam, he eventually became disillusioned with the war there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060105/pl_nm/iraq_bush_dc

[SharonRB]

1. I heard about this on Rachel Maddow's show this a.m.

Hard to believe -- I'm sure he has some ulterior motive and is doing it just for show. Either that or he's getting really desperate and has totally run out of ideas. However, the chances of him listening to anything Madeline Albright, Robert McNamara, William Perry or even Colin Powell have to say are slim to none.

[global1]

6. He's Going To Tell Them About His Plans To Nuke Iran..... n/t

[SCDem]

2. it's no miracle it is just PR

[babylonsister]

3. I'm afraid you're right. Since when has the blivet actually listened

to anyone not spewing the party line?

[democrank]

4. Spare me.

This is nothing more than a Rovian PR move. American`s First Bully, Junior W. Bush, doesn`t consider opposing views. They`re made by people who hate freedom and want to aid the enemy. If Junior really wanted to hear what others think, he wouldn`t have closed all his "town hall meetings" to anyone who was not on his team. He`s a fraud today and he`ll be a fraud tomorrow.

[SharonRB]

8. Exactly.

[liberalhistorian]

5. MCNAMARA?

You have got to be fucking KIDDING me! That murderer has no business whatsoever being on any presidential advice panel anywhere for any reason. Matter of fact, make that ANY advice panel. I wouldn't even trust him to pick my breakfast cereal.

[SharonRB]

7. Have you seen "Fog of War"?

McNamara has changed his tune and regrets things he did in the past.

[liberalhistorian]

9. Well, ain't that just fine and dandy,

but a bit too late for thousands of American lives, I'm afraid. How convenient to be so "regretful" decades after the fact. And too easy.

Actually, he has said that he began having doubts as early as 1967, but never said anything for reasons that remain clear only to himself. What a fucking coward. Imagine the lives that would have been saved on both sides had he had the guts to speak up, instead of continuing a policy simply because he didn't want to make himself and the administration look bad. There are no words to describe this piece of filth as far as I'm concerned.

[SharonRB]

10. My point was that he might actually give * some decent

advice now -- not that I think * will listen to him, however.