by Olivier KnoxMon Dec 11, 4:39 PM ET
US President George W. Bush, promising to unveil "a new way forward" in Iraq, urged the war-torn country's neighbors to do more to help its fledgling democracy survive.
Bush launched a week of high-profile consultations on Iraq with a rare visit to the US State Department and held talks at the White House with military experts, one day before meeting Iraq's top Sunni Muslim elected leader.
The president, under pressure to discuss Iraq with Iran and Syria, said he and top diplomats had discussed "the countries that surround Iraq and the responsibilities that they have to help this young Iraqi democracy survive."
"Most of the countries understand that a mainstream society, a society that is a functioning democracy, is in their interests. And it's up to us to help focus their attentions and focus their efforts on helping the Iraqis succeed," he said.
Bush, speaking with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney at his sides, said he was gathering the best possible advice ahead of announcing much-anticipated changes to his strategy in Iraq.
"When I do speak to the American people, they will know that I've listened to all aspects of government, and that the way forward is the way forward to achieve our objective: To succeed in Iraq," he said.
"And success is a country that governs, defends itself, that is a free society, that serves as an ally in this war on terror," said the president, who was expected to lay out his new plan as early as next week.
On Tuesday, Bush was to have a video-conference with military commanders and US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, as well as a meeting at the White House with Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi.
The meeting with Hashimi had been scheduled for January but was moved up after Bush met last week with powerful Iraqi Shiite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Wednesday will see the president, who met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Jordan on November 30, at the Pentagon.
Hashimi is "committed to trying to strengthen the Iraqi government in such a way that it's able to sustain, govern and defend itself. It's part of a continuing effort to build that moderate coalition that involves Sunni, Shia and Kurds," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
Bush met later at the White House with foreign policy experts and retired four-star US army generals.
The flurry of consultations came after a high-powered commission led by former US secretary of state James Baker, the Iraq Study Group, bluntly warned that Bush's strategy in Iraq was failing.
The 10-member panel warned that the situation was "grave and deteriorating" and that not even a major course correction could be sure to avert regional chaos.
The Iraq Study Group has urged Washington, which accuses Tehran and Damascus of fuelling the deadly insurgency in Iraq, to hold talks with Syria and Iran in recognition of their potential influence.
The White House has rebuffed that appeal, while not ruling out some kind of contact if the government in Baghdad includes those two neighbors in a possible regional discussion focused on security.
"I appreciate so very much the Iraqi leadership taking the lead in its neighborhood. After all, one of the things we're trying to do is help this government get on its feet so it can govern and it can conduct its own foreign policy," said Bush.
"The role of America is to help this young democracy survive," he said.