WASHINGTON – Six days after voters handed Congress to Democrats, President George W. Bush and Democratic leaders both spoke of the importance of seeking common ground on Iraq; then they went their separate ways.After being interviewed Monday by a bipartisan commission looking for a new strategy for the Iraq war effort, Bush voiced fresh opposition to the kind of phased withdrawal that Democratic leaders were promoting in Congress and may be among options before the panel.
“I believe it is very important … for people making suggestions to recognize that the best military options depend upon the conditions on the ground,” Bush told reporters.
At the same time, soon-to-be-sworn-in Democratic leaders clashed with outgoing Republican ones in recommending that some troops to be brought home right away.
It all makes for “an interesting period here in Washington,” Bush told visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during an Oval Office picture-taking session after Bush’s meeting with the Iraq Study Group.
“You might realize the opposition party won, won the Senate and the House,” Bush continued. “And, what’s interesting, is that they’re beginning to understand that with victory comes responsibilities. And I’m looking forward to working with the Democrats to achieve common objectives.”
As lawmakers returned for a postelection session, the Democrat in line to lead the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Carl Levin, said the administration did not understand that “we’re getting deeper and deeper into a hole.”
Levin and other Democrats called for some troops to come home right away, suggesting that would pressure the Iraqi government to assume more responsibility.
While Democrats agree that troops should leave Iraq sooner rather than later, they remain divided on specifics. Rep. John Murtha, a contender to become the next majority leader in the House of Representatives, supports an immediate withdrawal of all troops. Levin and others favor a slower, phased withdrawal and have been reluctant to suggest a firm timetable.
Whereas Murtha and some others contend violence in Iraq will continue so long as U.S. troops are there, Levin and others warn that any withdrawal of troops must be done slowly to avoid a collapse in security.
The president met for more than an hour with a 10-member panel headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton. He was joined by Vice President Dick Cheney, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
The panel then stayed around for a longer session that included other members of the president’s national security team, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Baker and Hamilton later put out a joint statement. “We were pleased to meet with senior administration officials today and look forward to our consultations with some top Democrats tomorrow. We are working expeditiously to complete our report and recommendations,” the statement said.
Baker’s panel has been briefed on the Democrats’ proposals and is considering a range of options. Besides considering whether there should be any timetable to pull out troops, the panel is studying many other options, including whether to solicit the help of Iran and Syria to help stop the fighting.
“I was impressed by the questions they asked. They want us to succeed in Iraq, just like I want us to succeed. So we had a really good discussion,” Bush said.
White House spokesman Tony Snow described the meeting with the Iraq panel as a “general conversation about the situation there,” rather than a preview of what the group will recommend. “This was not proposal-shopping by the Iraq Study Group,” Snow said.
The members asked questions of Bush, and he of them, Snow said, “but there was care taken not to sort of try to prejudge, or also to get a jump on what they are going to do.”
Lawmakers barely had begun their postelection session Monday when debate broke out over the war in Iraq and over Democratic proposals to start bringing home U.S. troops.
Levin said in a news conference that the military had done what it could, and it was up to Iraq’s politicians to find consensus. “We cannot save the Iraqis from themselves,” he said.
In addition, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada went to the Senate floor to lend support for a change in Iraq policy.
Republicans shot back, saying they would oppose any timetable because it could cause Iraq to collapse into chaos.
Opponents of Levin’s proposal, at least for now, include Sen. John Warner, outgoing chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He says Congress must wait until the Baker-Hamilton panel’s recommendations.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Republican members of the Armed Services Committee, said they would oppose an arbitrary withdrawal. Collins and Graham are moderates who have criticized the Bush administration for its handling of the war.
Graham recently said Iraq was on the verge of chaos and demanded accountability, but on Monday he stood firm on his position that more troops, not fewer troops, are needed to settle the violence there.
Opposing views could deadlock Congress on the matter. While Republicans have the majority until the new session begins in January, they do so by a slim margin. And when Democrats take over, they too will have a razor-thin majority _ far short of the 60 votes needed to stop delaying tactics.