Report: US Iraq Study Group calls for shift to support role
CNN reports Iraq Study Group calls for change in role of US troops in Iraq, from combat operations to support. Group's report set to be published Wednesday, but President has yet to announce whether he will accept recommendations
The Iraq Study Group calls for a shift in the role of US troops in Iraq to support from combat operations, but stops short of recommending a timetable for withdrawal, CNN reported late on Tuesday.
CNN reported that excerpts of the report, due for release later on Wednesday, showed the group recommends a broader regional approach to achieving stability in Iraq and calls for a comprehensive Middle East peace plan.
Although there was no withdrawal timetable and a recognition that the Iraq government would need US support for some time to come, Washington "must not make open-ended commitments to keep large numbers of troops there in Iraq," CNN quoted the report as saying.
US President George W. Bush was briefed on the panel's report on Tuesday but has not said whether he will accept the group's advice and it is unclear how the United States might extricate itself without worsening sectarian violence in which scores of Iraqis are killed every day.
Still, the group led by Republican former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana is expected to influence the debate over the war because its members were unanimous in their advice.
