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Unpopular Bush meets executive officials at ranch

"[The] new Iraq is worth fighting for."

Donald Rumsfeld, US defense secretary

US President George W. Bush was meeting with his defense and foreign policy teams yesterday at his Texas ranch, from where he will look at world hotspots from Baghdad to Pyongyang.

Vice President Dick Cheney and top-rung advisers, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, were coming for the talks. Issues were to range from ongoing violence in Iraq and standoffs with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs to anti-US sentiment abroad, especially in the Middle East.

Keeping with tradition, Bush is spending this month at the ranch in Crawford.

The unhurried pace of this one-stoplight town stands in sharp contrast to events across the globe: suicide bombings in Iraq; on-again, off-again negotiations with the reclusive North Korea; Iran's decision to restart sensitive nuclear work; and next week's pullout of some 9,000 Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

APPROVAL RATINGS

Bush's update on defense and foreign-policy issues comes at a time when his approval ratings are hovering below 50 percent.

An AP-Ipsos poll conducted from Aug. 1 to Aug. 3 showed Bush's overall job approval was at 42 percent, with 55 percent disapproving. That's about where his approval rating has been all summer, but slightly lower than it was when the year began.

His approval on his handling of Iraq stood at 38 percent.

Iraq, where the death toll of US troops has topped 1,840, is likely to take center stage.

The administration is hoping that progress on the political front will help deflate violence and allow the US and its partners to begin withdrawing troops next year.

Rumsfeld said success in drafting a new Iraqi constitution is critical toward persuading the majority of Iraqis that the "new Iraq is worth fighting for."

But a deadlock has arisen over the drafting of the charter, which is supposed to be completed by this Monday.

Rumsfeld has not publicly voiced his thoughts on when US forces may be able to come home in large numbers -- a decision that hinges on the level of violence and the capabilities of Iraqi security forces, which now number 178,000.

FINAL REPORT

A joint US-Iraqi committee that is identifying areas to revert to Iraqi control will submit its final report by the end of next month.

That is the first step toward what General George Casey, the top commander in Iraq, has said could lead to a "fairly substantial" reduction in the 138,000-strong US force by the spring and summer of next year.

Casey has not disclosed numbers, but Pentagon officials have mentioned a reduction figure of 20,000 to 30,000 troops. That would still leave about 100,000 Americans in Iraq well into next year.

But first the Pentagon will likely have to increase the number of US troops above the current 138,000 to improve security for a planned October referendum and a December election, when a burst of insurgent violence is expected, Rumsfeld spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said this week.

In January, when Iraq held its first elections, troop levels were raised as high as 160,000, mainly by overlapping some units arriving in Iraq to begin a one-year tour with those who were ending their yearlong tours.

Di Rita said that this time commanders could also ask for volunteers to serve extended tours or send some US-based troops to Iraq to augment the force during the fall election period.

The White House says Rumsfeld will brief the president on the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated top-to-bottom review of defense strategy and plans. The review, begun earlier this year, will be completed around January, in time for the February budget submission.

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