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Iraq Focal Point Of Bush Pentagon Meeting
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In a secure conference room at the Pentagon Wednesday, President-elect George W. Bush met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a top-secret session reviewing possible U.S. force allocations into hot regions around the world.
According to two participants, the meeting focused on discussions concerning Iraq, which took up half of the meeting's time.
"It's the most visible and most risky area Mr. Bush will confront after he takes office," said one senior officer.
Although Bush has been careful not to lay out a specific strategy towards Iraq, meeting participants stated that he asked several questions about Saddam Hussein and U.S. allies in the region.
One senior Pentagon official said, "Iraqi policy is very much on his mind, Saddam was clearly a discussion point."
Bush arrived at the Pentagon with Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, secretary of state designate General Colin L. Powell, secretary of defense nominee Donald H. Rumsfeld, and national security advisor nominee Condoleezza Rice.
Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, who addressed the press after his meeting with Bush, argued that sanctions on Iraq had worked.
"Saddam Hussein's forces are in a state where he cannot pose a threat to his neighbors at this point," he said. "We have been successful, through the sanctions regime, to really shut off most of the revenue that will be going to rebuild his military."
In the past, Bush and his advisors have mentioned strengthening sanctions against Iraq and have criticized the Clinton administration for loosening those sanctions.
Cohen, defending the Clinton administrations handling of foreign policy, in a courtly manner without mentioning any names or details, suggested that Republicans were simplifying defense issues, especially those related to Iraq and peacekeeping in the Balkans.
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