[QODLink]
Americas
Consensus in Iraq Study Group
A high-powered US panel on Iraq is to reveal its recommendations on December 6.
Last Modified: 28 Oct 2007 09:03 GMT
President Bush had set up the group to examine alternatives
The Iraq Study Group, an advisory panel of Democrats and Republicans examining alternatives to US policy towards Iraq, has reached a consensus agreement.
 
Led by James Baker, the former US Secretary of State, the group's recommendations are likely to carry significant weight with the White House, and with the public.
The panel's co-chairman, Lee Hamilton, told the liberal Center for American Progress: "We reached a consensus."
 
But he refused to provide details saying results will be revealed at a news conference on December 6.
George Bush's fellow Republicans lost control of the US Congress earlier this month largely because of public dissatisfaction over the war, in which 2,885 US forces have died since the March 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
 
Impetus
 
Many in Washington believe the group's report may provide the impetus for a change in policy or, at the very least, recommendations on how to move forward that may attract support from Democrats and Republicans.
 
The panel of five Republicans and five Democrats has been studying critical questions such as whether the US should begin to withdraw some of its nearly 140,000 troops from Iraq amid accelerating sectarian violence.
 
One source close to the panel's deliberations said, "There were very intense debates and they came up with some compromises to get everybody on board.

"I'm not saying that every 'T' has been crossed, but I'm saying it's far enough along now that they know they can do it on the 6th. The major disagreements, they've settled," the source added

Source:
Agencies
Topics in this article
Country
Featured on Al Jazeera
An unflinching portrait of physical labour in the 21st century.
The stark choice between a fascist or an imperialist course in Syria should be discarded for a third and better course.
Israel's propaganda machine carefully chooses its words to assert illegal ownership over Jerusalem and Palestine.
As Western fears grow over Iran's continuing nuclear programme, we ask how a military strike could impact the region.
<  > 
join our mailing list

Enter Zip Code
Go