ti twist some arms.
June 27, 2007, 5:23PM
White House faces tough crowd on Iraq
By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Bush is sending his top aide on national security affairs to Capitol Hill on Thursday to confront what has become a tough crowd on the Iraq war.
A majority of senators believe troops should start coming home within the next few months. A new House investigation concluded this week that the Iraqis have little control over an ailing security force. And House Republicans are calling to revive the independent Iraq Study Group to give the nation options.
While the White House thought they had until September to deal with political fallout on the unpopular war, officials may have forgotten another critical date: the upcoming 2008 elections.
"This is an important moment if we are still to have a bipartisan policy to deal with Iraq," Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said in an interview Wednesday.
If Congress and the White House wait until September to change course in Iraq, Lugar said "It'll be further advanced in the election cycle. It makes it more difficult for people to cooperate. ... If you ask if I have some anxiety about 2008, I do."Lugar, the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, plans to meet Thursday privately with Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley. Hadley requested the meeting after Lugar delivered a lengthy floor speech contending the president's war strategy won't have time to work and that U.S. troops should start leaving.
National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Hadley's message Thursday on Capitol Hill will be
"where we see things currently in Iraq and that we need to see what the commanders on the ground and the ambassador have to say in September."<snip>
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4926107.html
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