President George W. Bush conferred via videoconference with senior military commanders in Iraq on Tuesday, as the White House suggested an announced change in policy might not come before Christmas. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino had previously indicated that Bush would make a major policy speech before the end of December, but told reporters Tuesday that no definite deadline had been set. There s a lot of speculation as to the timing, Perino said. I would just caution you that none of that is nailed down right now. While the goal is to have this speech given before Christmas, that s not locked down. We have maximum flexibility. The president also was to meet Tuesday with Iraq s Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, a week after he met with senior Iraqi Shi ite leader Abdel Aziz Al Hakim. Reports from Baghdad said Al-Hashemi would tell Bush of his dismay over the Shi ite-led Iraqi government s handling of security. Slow and inadequate action is a problem that we have been facing with this government since it was formed, he said Monday in an interview with Baghdad TV, the mouthpiece of his Iraqi Islamic Party. Bush is spending this week conferring with a number of administration officials and outside experts on the way forward for Iraq. On Monday, Bush went to the State Department for a 90-minute meeting to review options with advisers there, then hosted a handful of experts on Iraq policy in the Oval Office. On Wednesday, he will meet with senior defense officials at the Pentagon. The president, while he s been in listening mode, has been digesting the information and thinking about certain directions that he wants to go, Perino said. I think it s fair to say that over the next few days, after he finishes these last few meetings, that that s when these things start to finalize and crystallize into a strategy. Two retired Army generals who met with Bush on Monday said the president asked a number of questions that suggested he was open to change. I found him very engaged. I think he s looking for some answers, and the impression I had was there will be some changes, said retired General Wayne Downing in an interview with NBC s Today show. The president s listening tour comes after the bipartisan Iraq Study Group suggested U.S. troops focus on training Iraqi soldiers, while the U.S. government sets achievable goals for the Iraqi government and engages diplomatically with Iraq s neighbors.
