Democrats like Iraq commission's report

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Democrats in Congress, encouraged that a special commission will recommend a major reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq, say its report next week will serve as a jumping-off point for pressing their case that a withdrawal should begin in 2007.

Plans beyond that are elusive among members of the majority-in-waiting. Democrats are divided among themselves — and with President Bush — about how many troops to withdraw, when, and where to reassign them.

On Thursday, Democrats made clear they liked the details being leaked about the forthcoming report from a panel led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana. And they warned Bush about the political peril of ignoring its recommendations.

"Sounds to me like they're going in the right direction," Sen. Christopher Dodd (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn., said of the commission.

Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., said he was encouraged by the sense that the group would recommend a troop redeployment.

"By implication, it's a starting point," Levin, the incoming chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. "That feature is somewhat, I wouldn't say, close to what we proposed, but at least is along the same line; at least it's not just `soon as possible.'"

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said, "I hope that in the coming weeks the White House will engage in good-faith discussions about how to proceed that will seriously consider the ideas put forward by the study group, as well as other proposals."

The report will press for a greater shift in responsibility for the Iraq's security from American to Iraqi forces, according to an official familiar with the special commission's deliberations. It will also urge an openness to involvement by Syria and Iran in a diplomatic solution to problems in the region.

The panel will demand more accountability from the Iraqi government, although it's not clear how progress would be measured or if there would be specific benchmarks, said an official who requested anonymity because the panel's recommendations have not been made public.

Bush, concluding a meeting with Iraq's prime minister in Jordan, seemed to reject the idea of pulling out troops before Iraq can control its own security.

"This business about a graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all," he said Thursday at a news conference.

Democrats advised Bush to keep an open mind.

"The president's language over the last 24 hours has not been terribly constructive," Dodd told reporters. "I am hopeful that the president will change his tune and he listens to the report."

Levin sounded pessimistic that Bush would be influenced by the report if it doesn't track with his goals.

"I don't think there's any indication they're going to feel moved, bound by any recommendations," Levin said. "Look at how they're trying basically to prepare the ground for not going along with the recommendations."

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, who has argued that Iraq should be split into republics, will become chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in January. He said he was concerned that the report "may miss the most important point," a political agreement about the structure of Iraq's government.

"It would be a fatal mistake to believe we can do that solely by building up a strong central government," Biden said in a statement. "The best way to get a sustainable political settlement is through federalism: maintaining a unified Iraq, but decentralizing the country and giving its groups breathing room in their own regions."

Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said he was troubled by reports that the group would not recommend a timeline for redeploying U.S. troops. "Not including a flexible timetable ... would be a mistake that weakens both our efforts to help Iraqis reach a political solution in Iraq and our national security," he said.

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Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.