Lawmakers question Iraq war's course after elections

Washington - White House aides have signaled a new openness to changes in Iraq, but they rejected Democratic proposals to translate the party's success in last week's elections into a redeployment of U.S. troops within months.

Five days after Democrats won control of the House and the Senate and four days after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned, politicians agreed Sunday that something must be done about Iraq, but not on what that should be.

Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat in line to become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the elections sent a clear message that voters want a change of policy in Iraq. He said both parties are moving toward a phased redeployment of troops in four to six months.

"We've got to put pressure on them to do what only the Iraqi leaders can do, which is work out a political solution in Iraq," Levin said.

"We're going to urge the president on a bipartisan basis, hopefully, to change course in Iraq by doing a number of things," Levin added.

"Not only telling the Iraqis that we're not there in an open-ended way, but also to set some milestones here so that we can begin to withdraw in four to six months," Levin told ABC's "This Week."

Democrats called for an international conference composed of representatives from all the countries in the region with a stake in the outcome -- including Iran, Syria and Turkey -- to hash out details of a solution.

That concept was endorsed Monday by the prime ministers of two other nations with troops in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition, Britain and Australia, according to The Associated Press.

Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York offered support for a proposal put forward in June by Levin and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island to begin a phased withdrawal within six months.

"We need to redeploy," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, adding that decisions should be made by officers on the ground in Iraq. "I think it should start within the next few months."

White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, however, rejected the notion of a "fixed timetable."

"That could be a true disaster for the Iraqi people," he told ABC's "This Week."

"The important thing is that this be done in a way that the Iraqis can succeed, that we can have a democratic government there that can govern itself, sustain itself, defend itself," he said.

Throughout the midterm elections campaign, Democrats called for changes to the U.S. policy in Iraq, where more than 2,800 U.S. troops have been killed since the 2003 invasion that toppled former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Three more U.S. troop deaths were announced on Sunday, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pushed for a shake-up in his government and dozens of Iraqis were left dead on another day of carnage.

Comments by Bolten and White House aide Dan Bartlett on Sunday's talk shows marked a change in tone from the tough rhetoric of the midterm campaigns.

"The president's open to fresh ideas here. Everybody's reviewing the situation," Bolten said.

That includes the Iraq Study Group, which is looking into alternatives to what critics call a burgeoning civil war. And Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday a review also was under way at the Pentagon.

The study group, led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, is expected to deliver its recommendations by the end of the year. Baker was secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, and Hamilton is a Democratic former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Bush is scheduled to meet Monday with members of the study group, which counted as a member until last week Bush's choice to replace Rumsfeld, Robert Gates.

One prominent Republican said Sunday that the only way to improve the situation in Iraq is with an increase in the number of troops.

"I believe that a withdrawal, or a date for withdrawal, will lead to chaos in the region," said Sen. John McCain who is mulling a run to be his party's presidential candidate in 2008.

"What's going to happen is that, as you withdraw, that you will see the sectarian violence increase; I think you'll see involvement by Iran and Syria," the Arizona Republican told NBC's "Meet the Press."

'Political games'

Sen. Joseph Biden, in line to become chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, on Sunday backed an international conference that would include Iran and Syria.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania told CNN that such discussions "would be a good starting point."

Bolten was cool to the idea but did not reject it. "Nothing is off the table," he told CNN.

"I don't think there's been a communications problem. There's been a cooperation problem," Bolten told ABC.

Biden, a potential presidential candidate, said Bush would be unlikely to veto any measures that might emerge from Congress.

"The last thing the senators who are up for reelection in 2008 want is to be saddled with a continued failure in Iraq," the Democrat from Delaware told ABC.

And he said Democrats would not cut off funding for the war, calling that idea "off the table."

Biden has called for Iraq to be divided into three largely autonomous regions along ethnic and religious lines, with a central government in Baghdad.

But Bolten said most experts think that partitioning Iraq into regions for Shiites, Sunni and Kurds would not be a good idea.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told "Fox News Sunday" that the United States "can't have a stay-the-course mentality."

"We need to tell the Iraqi people that we're leaving, because I think, frankly, they are playing political games over there to see who can get into power on the backs of our troops," he said. -- CNN News

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