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(AP) - President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not
working," a high-level commission said bluntly on Wednesday,
prodding the administration to use diplomacy to stabilize the
country and allow withdrawal of most American combat troops by
early 2008.

      "The ability of the United States to influence events within
Iraq is diminishing," the commission said in its report. 

      "There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects
can be improved," the commissioners said after an exhaustive
review of a war that has taken the lives of more than 2,900 U.S.
troops and grown so unpopular at home that it helped trigger a
Democratic takeover of Congress in last month's elections.

      The commission recommended the United States reduce "political,
military or economic support" for Iraq if the government in
Baghdad cannot make substantial progress toward providing for its
own security. 

      President Bush received the report in an early morning meeting
at the White House with commission members. He pledged to treat
each proposal seriously and act in a "timely fashion."

      He was flanked by the commission's co-chairmen, former Secretary
of State James A. Baker III, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton in a
remarkable scene - a president praising the work of a group that
had just concluded his policy had led to chaos.

      The report painted a grim picture of Iraq nearly four years
after U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein. It urged Bush to embrace
steps he has thus far rejected, including a call to involve Syria
and Iran in negotiations over Iraq's future.

      It warned that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there
is a risk of a "slide toward chaos (that) could trigger the
collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe."

      "Neighboring countries could intervene. ... The global standing
of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become
more polarized," commissioners said.

      With diplomacy under way, the report said, the U.S. should
increase the number of combat and other troops that are embedded
with and supporting Iraqi Army units.

      "As these actions proceed, U.S. combat forces could begin to
move out of Iraq. ... By the first quarter of 2008, subject to
unexpected developments in the security situation on the ground,
all combat brigades not necessary for force protection could be out
of Iraq."

      Baker, Hamilton and the other members of the commission traveled
to the Capitol from the White House to present their findings to
senior lawmakers. The report makes 79 separate recommendations on
Iraq policy, said one official familiar with the work.

      The recommendations came at a pivotal time, with Bush under
domestic pressure to change course and with the new,
Democratic-controlled Congress certain to cast a skeptical look at
administration policy.

      Additionally, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the
architect of the administration's war policy, has resigned. His
replacement, Robert Gates, is on track for Senate confirmation this
week after a remarkable assessment of his own - that the United
States is not winning the war.

      Bush has rejected establishing timetables for withdrawing the
140,000 U.S. troops and has said he isn't looking for "some kind
of graceful exit out of Iraq."

      There was no letup in the killing in Iraq, where a mortar attack
killed at least eight people and wounded dozens in a secondhand
goods market. Police said the shelling was followed closely by a
suicide bombing in the Sadr City Shiite district of the capital.

      It was the type of violence that has led many to declare that
Iraq is in the throes of a civil war - an assessment that Bush has
refused to accept.

      By whatever name, Baker, Hamilton and the other eight members of
the commission said the status quo was unacceptable.

      "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," they
warned.

      "Violence is increasing in scope and lethality. It is fed by a
Sunni Arab insurgency, Shiite militias, death squads, al-Qaida and
widespread criminality. Sectarian conflict is the principal
challenge to stability."

      Bush said the report "gives a very tough assessment of the
situation in Iraq. It is a report that brings some really very
interesting proposals, and we will take every proposal seriously
and we will act in a timely fashion."

      He also urged members of Congress to give serious consideration
to the recommendations.

      "While they won't agree with every proposal, and we probably
won't agree with every proposal, it nevertheless is an opportunity
to come together and to work together on this important issue," he
said.

      Said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House speaker-in-waiting:
"If the president is serious about the need for change in Iraq, he
will find Democrats ready to work with him in a bipartisan fashion
to find a way to end the war as quickly as possible."

      The commission's recommendation to have U.S. forces embedded
with Iraqi units reflects an approach the military already has been
emphasizing in recent months. But administration officials say
Iraqis are not yet ready to go it alone against the insurgency.

      The commission also recommended a renewed push to resolve the
Arab-Israeli conflict, saying the United States cannot otherwise
achieve its goals in the Middle East.

      U.S. allies in the region, including the powerful Sunni
leadership in Saudi Arabia, say the Arab-Israeli conflict underlies
other Mideast problems and that rancor from the impasse makes other
issues harder to solve.

      The commission recommended that a "diplomatic offensive" be
aimed at building an international consensus for stability in Iraq,
and that it include every country in the region.

      The United States accuses Syria and Iran of bankrolling
terrorism and stirring up trouble in the region. The United States
has had no diplomatic ties to Iran for nearly three decades, and
pulled its ambassador from Syria last year.

      Still, the commission said, "Given the ability of Iran and
Syria to influence events within Iraq and their interest in
avoiding chaos in Iraq, the United States should try to engage them
constructively."

      Ahead of the report's release, the White House said it would
consider talking to Iran and Syria if the commission recommended
it.

      Yet the administration's overall tone has been one of skepticism
about reaching accommodation with Tehran and Damascus.
Administration officials have suggested there is more to lose than
to gain by rewarding Iran and Syria with high-profile discourse
with American diplomats, and warn that Iran in particular could try
to use contact with U.S. officials to gain leverage in ongoing
separate diplomacy over its nuclear program.

Gallery

President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not
working," a high-level commission said bluntly on Wednesday,
prodding the administration to use diplomacy to stabilize the
country and allow withdrawal of most American combat troops by
early 2008.

Iraq policy "not working," says study group

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