Has a U-turn on Iraq begun?  Morning conference: Why are attacks
on White House policy by allies of George Bush senior taking
place now?     • theguardian.com,     • Jump to comments ()
James Baker, a man described by the Washington Post as "the
former secretary of state with a long-standing reputation of
service to Republican presidents and the Bush family in
particular", is co-chairman of the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group,
a body partly financed by the US Congress to review policy and
strategy in Iraq.  He was interviewed on the Today programme at
7.12 this morning and he confirmed a leak in yesterday's Los
Angeles Times, which reported: "Two options under consideration
would represent reversals of US policy: withdrawing American
troops in phases, and bringing neighbouring Iran and Syria into
a joint effort to stop the fighting."  He had hinted in the
Washington Post a week ago today that it is "time for the
administration to consider other alternatives in Iraq," but gave
no details of the options then.  In