Draft Iraq Report leaked

A draft report on strategies for Iraq, which will be debated here by a bipartisan commission beginning Monday, urges an aggressive regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct talks with Iran and Syria but sets no timetables for a military withdrawal, according to officials who have seen all or parts of the document. Among the ideas are embedding far more American training teams into Iraqi military units in a last-ditch improvement effort. While numbers are still approximate, phased withdrawal of combat troops over the next year would leave 70,000 to 80,000 American troops in the country, compared with about 150,000 now. “It’s not at all clear that we can reach consensus on the military questions,” one member of the commission said late last week. Following the strong protest vote at the recent Congressional election, the bi-partisan Commission is expected to set a new direction for the Administration's policy for Iraq.