Adviser: Bush Open to Rumsfeld Ideas
December 3, 2006
WASHINGTON -- President Bush is open to some of the major change in Iraq policy that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested in a classified memo days before he resigned, the White House's national security adviser said Sunday.
The memo discussed putting "substantial" U.S. forces near Iraq's borders with Iran and Syria, withdrawing American troops from vulnerable positions and moving to a quick reaction status, and "taking our hand off the cycle seat" through the start of "modest withdrawals" of U.S. and coalition forces.
"Of course they're being considered," Bush adviser Stephen Hadley said.
"At some point obviously, we would like to begin bringing troops back home. The president has said that -- he's talked many times, `As Iraqis stand up, we can stand down.'" I think the important thing is that we're pushing on an open door," Hadley said.
He did not perceive Rumsfeld's memo as a late effort to save his job...."The president had asked agencies to begin a review of our policy in Iraq, and what Secretary Rumsfeld did, I think, very helpfully, was put together a sort of laundry list of ideas that ought to be considered as part of that review," Hadley said.
"The president really wanted us to open the aperture, consider all ideas, and it was input by Secretary Rumsfeld, helpful input into that process," he said....
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