thedrifter
12-28-06, 06:59 AM
Bush, advisors gather as aide rebukes Biden on Iraq
By James Gerstenzang, Times Staff Writer
December 28, 2006
CRAWFORD, TEXAS — The White House responded sharply Wednesday to a senior Democratic senator's criticism of possible increases in the U.S. military deployment in Iraq as the president prepared to discuss the war today with top advisors.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel took issue with Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said Tuesday that any troop increase would be "the absolute wrong strategy."
"I hope that Sen. Biden would wait to hear what the president has to say before announcing what he's opposed to," Stanzel said.
President Bush plans to meet this morning with his senior national security advisors to consider new strategies for the war.
Bush has not said whether he will announce an increase in the approximately 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq when he presents his plans in a speech to the nation as early as next week.
But officials have said he is considering such a course, and leading U.S. military officials in Iraq have backed away from their earlier doubts that sending more troops would help stem the violence that continues to take a heavy toll on Iraqi citizens and the U.S. military.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates were headed to Bush's ranch Wednesday, Stanzel said.
They will be joined today, he said, by Vice President Dick Cheney; Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Stephen Hadley, the president's national security advisor; and J.D. Crouch, the deputy national security advisor.
The spokesman said they would be considering "all the potential options, making sure that due consideration is given to the next steps, making sure that we're thinking through the new way forward in Iraq to take into account all of the differing views."
He reiterated earlier White House declarations that the meeting would not produce specific decisions on Iraq war policy.
The White House has said Bush was likely to deliver a speech on his plans in early January, and Stanzel said that timetable remained in effect.
But the exact timing of the president's announcement, the spokesman said, "largely depends on how comfortable he is with the information he's receiving, making sure that we've thought through all the parameters of any options."
On a related matter, Stanzel downplayed the potential effect that the execution of Saddam Hussein could have on the security situation in Iraq.
An appeals court there said Tuesday that the death sentence must be carried out within 30 days.
"That is a matter for the Iraqi people, and we are observers to that process," the spokesman said on the timing of the execution.
Asked whether the execution would have an effect on the preparation of a new policy if it led to increased violence, he said: "The enemy has always used just about any excuse they could find to foment violence, and that is not new."
james.gerstenzang@latimes.com
Ellie
By James Gerstenzang, Times Staff Writer
December 28, 2006
CRAWFORD, TEXAS — The White House responded sharply Wednesday to a senior Democratic senator's criticism of possible increases in the U.S. military deployment in Iraq as the president prepared to discuss the war today with top advisors.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Scott Stanzel took issue with Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said Tuesday that any troop increase would be "the absolute wrong strategy."
"I hope that Sen. Biden would wait to hear what the president has to say before announcing what he's opposed to," Stanzel said.
President Bush plans to meet this morning with his senior national security advisors to consider new strategies for the war.
Bush has not said whether he will announce an increase in the approximately 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq when he presents his plans in a speech to the nation as early as next week.
But officials have said he is considering such a course, and leading U.S. military officials in Iraq have backed away from their earlier doubts that sending more troops would help stem the violence that continues to take a heavy toll on Iraqi citizens and the U.S. military.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates were headed to Bush's ranch Wednesday, Stanzel said.
They will be joined today, he said, by Vice President Dick Cheney; Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Stephen Hadley, the president's national security advisor; and J.D. Crouch, the deputy national security advisor.
The spokesman said they would be considering "all the potential options, making sure that due consideration is given to the next steps, making sure that we're thinking through the new way forward in Iraq to take into account all of the differing views."
He reiterated earlier White House declarations that the meeting would not produce specific decisions on Iraq war policy.
The White House has said Bush was likely to deliver a speech on his plans in early January, and Stanzel said that timetable remained in effect.
But the exact timing of the president's announcement, the spokesman said, "largely depends on how comfortable he is with the information he's receiving, making sure that we've thought through all the parameters of any options."
On a related matter, Stanzel downplayed the potential effect that the execution of Saddam Hussein could have on the security situation in Iraq.
An appeals court there said Tuesday that the death sentence must be carried out within 30 days.
"That is a matter for the Iraqi people, and we are observers to that process," the spokesman said on the timing of the execution.
Asked whether the execution would have an effect on the preparation of a new policy if it led to increased violence, he said: "The enemy has always used just about any excuse they could find to foment violence, and that is not new."
james.gerstenzang@latimes.com
Ellie