Bush: Making Progress on New Iraq Policy

12/28/2006

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush met Thursday with his national security team at his Texas ranch, and declared he has moved one step closer to devising a new Iraq strategy but will seek more advice before settling on a final plan.

"We're making good progress," Bush said outside an office building near his Texas ranch where he stood with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Bush took no questions from reporters and offered no details about the strategy he is set to announce to the nation after the first of the year.

"As I think about this plan, I always have our troops in mind," Bush said. He will continue to consult with members of Congress and the Iraqis, he said, stressing the importance of having a government in Iraq that can deal with the militias and the rising violence.

"We've got more consultation to do until I talk to the country about the plan," he said. "The key to success in Iraq is to have a government that's willing to deal with the elements that are trying to prevent this young democracy from succeeding."

Bush said one of his resolutions for the new year is that the troops will be safe and that this nation will come closer to its goal of having an Iraq that can sustain independence and govern itself.