US President George W. Bush says the enemy in Iraq is "far from being defeated," but he vows not to be rushed into adjusting his strategy and is giving little indication that he intends to veer sharply from the direction his war policies have taken.
After three days of meetings with military leaders, Bush is weighing options for Iraq ranging from a short-term surge in troops to an infusion of dollars for trainers.
No changes will involve removing troops before the job is done, the president vows.
Bush gathered advice from former and current commanders, including those in Iraq, as well as chiefs of the military services and other top Pentagon leaders.
He even heard from outside advisers who suggested he remove Marine General Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to an official familiar with the meeting who asked not to be named because the discussions were private.
But Bush made it clear he will not map out a new war strategy until his new defense secretary, Robert Gates, has taken over and offered his counsel. And that new plan, he said, will not include giving up.
"The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave to turn Iraq over to extremists who want to do the American people and the Iraqi people harm," Bush said on Wednesday, after a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gates.
Some of the recommendations could include beefing up support for the Army, which has been stretched nearly to the breaking point by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
General Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, is arguing that if the US is going to maintain the current troop levels, either the size of the active-duty Army must be increased or the Army must be given greater access to National Guard and Reserve soldiers, two defense officials said on Wednesday.
There are competing schools of thought inside the military and the administration on whether a short-term increase in US troop strength in Iraq -- possibly in the range of 20,000 -- would be enough to quell the sectarian warfare in Baghdad.
Some generals believe it would be too little, too late, in a war that already has claimed more than 2,900 US lives.
Bush's very public effort to recalibrate the war effort comes with growing public pressure generated by last month's elections that put Democrats in control of Congress and led to Rumsfeld's ouster.
The president said he would present his plans for a "new way forward" in Iraq early next year, while continuing to support the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose ability to forge a viable governing coalition is questioned privately by some administration officials.
None of his comments sounded like a prelude to withdrawing substantial numbers of US troops over the coming year, as was recommended by the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission that has studied war options since March.
A number of administration officials have suggested privately that while Bush has considered the possibility of a short-term troop increase, there is no consensus from the military on the wisdom of injecting a large number of additional troops. In fact there is little sign that senior military leaders have shifted from their view that adding troops would undercut the incentive for Iraqis to take more responsibility for their own security.
Another option under discussion is increasing the number of US troops who are placed inside Iraqi army and police units as advisers.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government will hold a parliamentary debate on Britain's role in Iraq by the end of January, a cabinet member said yesterday amid mounting pressure from war critics.
Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary who is leader of the House of Commons, said the government will make time for a debate on foreign affairs "focusing on Iraq and the Middle East by the end of January."
He gave no exact day following the Christmas recess.
The government has faced criticism since the publication last week of the Iraq Study Group report in the US.
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