US:US president George Bush has postponed a major speech on Iraq amid signs that he will reject key recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. The White House said yesterday that Mr Bush will unveil his new plan for Iraq in the new year instead of next week, as had been expected.
White House press secretary Tony Snow said Mr Bush had told staff yesterday that he needed more time to put together his "new way forward" for Iraq.
Mr Snow insisted the delay does not reflect a last-minute shift by the White House and that Mr Bush knows the general direction he is likely to take and has instructed his staff to address its practical consequences for military tactics and regional diplomacy.
"It's a complicated business and there are a lot of things to take into account," Mr Snow said.
The Iraq Study Group called last week for the withdrawal of almost all US combat troops from Iraq by early 2008 and for US trainers to be embedded within the Iraqi army. The group also proposed a new diplomatic offensive that would involve neighbouring countries, including Iran and Syria, in securing Iraq's future.
At a meeting in the White House yesterday, Mr Bush told Iraqi vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi that the US remained committed to helping the Iraqi government to tackle sectarian violence.
"Our objective is to help the Iraqi government deal with the extremists and killers, and support the vast majority of Iraqis who are reasonable people who want peace. And so, Mr Vice-President, my message to you today, and to the Iraqi people is, we want to help you. We want to help your government be effective. We want your government to live up to its words and ideals," Mr Bush said.
Mr Hashemi said that success was the only option in Iraq but he acknowledged that the situation was grave.
"It is a hard time that the Iraqis face in time being, but there is a light in the corridor. There is a chance, but we need a good will and a strong determination, the same strong determination that the president has. There will be a chance for the country and for Iraq to succeed," he said.
Mr Bush has been consulting advisers on Iraq this week and he will visit the Pentagon today for talks with senior officials. The president has already discussed Iraq this week with the State Department and senior military commanders.
On Monday, a group of retired generals and military strategists urged Mr Bush to reject the Iraq Study Group's call for a shift in the US military role in Iraq from combat operations to training.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll published yesterday shows that seven out of 10 Americans disapprove of the way Mr Bush is handling the situation in Iraq - the highest percentage since the March 2003 invasion. Six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting and half of Americans feel "strongly" that the war was not worth fighting, double the number who strongly believe that it was.
Mr Snow said yesterday that most Americans believe that the US can and should succeed in Iraq.
"I think that there is understandable apprehension about the situation in Iraq. And what people want to hear is, how do you assess the situation and how do you wish to address it? And those are questions the president is going to answer," he said.