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Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Ozeti
Some Democrats saw the report as a Baker said. '~nd it is in that spirit that
clear repudiation of much of the administration's
we have approached our study group's
recent approach - as when task on a bipartisan basis."
James Baker 3rd, the former secretary His language was a striking echo of
of state who was eo-chairman of the that used a day earlier by President
panel, said plainly that "stay the George W. Bush's nominee for defense
course," a formulation long associated secretary, Robert Gates, who told the
with the president but now abandoned,
was "no longer viable."
Senate Armed Services Committee that
he wanted to help build an approach on
Democrats said that Bush must Iraq that would be made durable
change his approach and be ready to cooperate
through strong, bipartisan support.
with members of Congress in The Armed Serviees Committee,
finding a way forward, and eventually clearly sympathetic to his views, later
out of, Iraq.
unanimously recommended his confirmation
"Their report underscores the message
by the full Senate, and that was
the Ameriean people sent one expected shortly.
month ago: There must be change in And Lee Hamilton, a former Democratie
Iraq, and there is no time to lose," said
congressman from Indiana and
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who will the Iraq panel's co-chairman, said the
be the Democratic majority leader in tone of the report reflected "a very
the new Congress. "It is time for the pragmatie" approach. "We tried to set
Iraqis to build and secure their nation, forth here achievable goals," he said.
and it is time for Ameriean combat Tony Snow, the White House spokesman,
troops to be redeployed."
rejected the suggestion that the re-
Some Republicans saw the report as port was a repudiation of administration
ratifying an urgent search by the administration
policy - the White House and
for responsible ways to pentagon had long since acknowledged
edge out of Iraq, heavy on political and grave problems in Iraq and begun reviewing
diplomatie dimensions but avoiding a
its options, he said - but he
hasty withdrawal that could leave the embraced the notion of consensus.
region in chaos.
"What you have here, 1 think, is a
A pro minent Senate Republican, basis for both politieal parties actually
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, praised the to begin working together," Snow said.
group's findings.
He said that White House officiaIs,
"The report is an acknowledgment when they met earlier with the commission
that there will be no military solution in
members, were partieularly struck
Iraq," said Hagel, a member of the Foreign
Relations and Intelligence commit-
was absolutely important was to re-
by this: "The one thing they thought
tees. "It will require a political solution build a sense of national unity on this."
arrived at through sustained Iraqi and region-wide
diplomacy and engagement. stressed this during a joint briefing.
Indeed, several panel members
"The president and Congress now Sandra Day O'Connor, who stepped
must work together to frame a new down from the Supreme Court early
policy that will allow the United States this year, urged journalists to help engage
Americans in the problem. "It's up
to leave Iraq and the Iraqi people to
make their own decisions as to their future,"
Hagel said.
interpreting this and talking to ~er-
to you, frankly," she said. "You're there
Many people saw the report as drawing
power both from the eminence of its will feel that if they're behind someica.
1 hope that the American people
members - five Democrats and five Republicans,
including two former secre-
off. 1think we will."
thing in broad terms, that we'll be better
taries of state, a former defense secretary
and a former Supreme Court justiee to President Bill Clinton, said: "This
Leon Panetta, a former chief of staff
- and by its insistence on the need to country cannot be at war and be as divided
as we are today. You've got to uni-
move American public opinion on Iraq
from polarization to commonality. fy this country, and 1 suggest to the
"We believe that a constructive solution
requires that a new politieal con-
can perhaps serve as an example."
president that what we did in this group
sensus be built, a new consensus here ai "We have made a terrible commitment
in Iraq in terms of our blood home and a new consensus abroad,"
and
treasure," Panetta continued. '~nd 1
think we owe it to them to take one last
chance at making Iraq work and, more
importantly, to take one last chance at
unifying this country on this war."
And Alan Simpson, a former Republican
senator from Wyoming, lamented
that "the American people see the Congress
and the administration as dysfunctional."
He recalled how he and Panetta,
though from different politieal parties, 1
would lunch together wheJ;l Simpson \
was assistant majority leader and spell
. ou~ what they could or could not get
done. He deplored the loss ofbipartisanship
but said it might yet be revived.
"Maybe it's corny, maybe it won't
work," he said, "but it's sure as hell better
than sitting there where we are right
now."
The study group's leaders, judging by
remarks, have a less idealistic vision of
Iraq than Bush, who has often described
a new country as a beacon of democracy.
It seemed to contrast sharply to the ideologically
driven approach of neoconservative
advisers in the administration.
Still, while lawmakers we1comed the
Baker report as pointing to a possibly
better way forward, some saw it as confirming
their dim view of the pasto
"The Iraq Study Group report represents
another blow at the poliey of 'stay
the course' that this administration has
followed," said Senator Carl Levin of
Michigan, the senior Democrat on the
Armed Services Committee. "The
American people rose up again staying
the course in Iraq, because the course is
not working."
Baker said the bipartisan study group
had deliberately waited until after the
mid-term elections to deliver its conclusions.
But Hamilton, the panel co-cha irman,
and other members, avoided raising
any undue optimism about Iraq. "We
do not know if it can be turned around,"
he said. "We have an obligation to try."
Les autorités irakiennes refusent la conférence
internationale
Le premier ministre irakien Nouri AI-Maliki
a annoncé, mardi 5 décembre, la tenue
d'une conférence de réconciliation, dans
un pays déchiré par les violences confessionnelles.
« Tous les partis, qu'ils soient
augouvernement ou non, participeront à
cette confilrence )J, a affirmé le premier
ministre sur la chaîne de télévision publique
Iraqia.
M. Maliki a en revanche écarté l'idée
d'une conférence Internationale avancée
par le secrétaire général de l'ONU, Kofi
Annan. Le chef de la principale coalition
chiite, Abdel Aziz AI-Hakim, s'était lui
aussi opposé à cette initiative lundi, lors
d'une visite à Washington en jugeant
(( inacceptable pour le peuple irakien que
ces questions soient débattues dans des
conférences internationales )J alors que
l'Irak dispose selon lui d'un gouvernement
qui compte parmi (( les plus forts
de la région )J.
Le président irakien, Jalal Talabani,
s'était également démarqué de l'initiative
de M. Annan.
-(AFP.)
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