U.S. to attend meeting that includes Iran & Syria

"American officials said Tuesday that they had agreed to hold the highest-level contact with the Iranian authorities in more than two years as part of an international meeting on Iraq.
The discussions, scheduled for the next two months, are expected to include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Iranian and Syrian counterparts.
. . . Iraqi officials had been pushing for such a meeting for several months, but Bush administration officials refused until the Iraqi government reached agreement on pressing domestic matters, including guidelines for nationwide distribution of oil revenue and foreign investment in the country’s immense oil industry, administration officials said.
. . . [The talks] will include Britain, Russia, and a host of international organizations and Middle Eastern countries."

source
Cooper, Helene & Semple, Kirk. (The New York Times). U.S. Set to Join Iran and Syria in Talks on Iraq. February 28, 2007.

posted: thursday, march 1, 2007, 11:19 AM ET

tags: condoleezza rice iraq iran syria

Iraqis need consensus for international conference to work, says Biden

"Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee . . . called the report a 'significant contribution,' but added, 'The real hard, hard question is: What is the political consensus that will be arrived at among the Iraqis? And if they do not arrive at one, all the king's horses, all the king's men, all the international conferences in the world will be for naught.' "

source
The Washington Post. Democrats: Panel's Findings Consistent With Their Proposals. December 6, 2006.

posted: thursday, december 14, 2006, 1:44 PM ET

Iraq Study Group to recommend phased withdrawal, international conference

"The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal, according to people familiar with the panel’s deliberations.
. . . A person who participated in the commission’s debate said that unless the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki believed that Mr. Bush was under pressure to pull back troops in the near future, “there will be zero sense of urgency to reach the political settlement that needs to be reached.”
. . . As described by the people involved in the deliberations, the bulk of the report by the Baker-Hamilton group focused on a recommendation that the United States devise a far more aggressive diplomatic initiative in the Middle East than Mr. Bush has been willing to try so far, including direct engagement with Iran and Syria.
. . . If Mr. Bush adopts the recommendations, far more American training teams will be embedded with Iraqi forces, a last-ditch effort to make the Iraqi Army more capable of fighting alone."

source
The New York Times. 15 Brigades Would Gradually Stand Down Under Plan. November 30, 2006.

posted: saturday, december 2, 2006, 4:14 AM ET