U.S. President George W. Bush will hear Friday from Pentagon officials about the military's concerns about the situation in Iraq. Bush is expected to hear assessments from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert Gates about continuing the military buildup in Iraq. Friday's meeting will be an opportunity for the Joint Chiefs of Staff to “provide the president with their unvarnished recommendations and their assessments of current operations,” said Major General Richard Sherlock, director of operational planning for the Joint Chiefs. Bush's meeting with the generals is likely to include an assessment on the long-term impact on U.S. forces of maintaining a heavy troop presence in Iraq in 2008 and beyond. There are currently more than 160,000 Americans in Iraq, up from around 130,000 before the escalation Bush ordered in January. The session is not intended to work out a consensus military view on how long Bush should maintain the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq or how soon to transition to Iraqi control of security, the Associated Press reported. Gates wants to give senior military leaders an opportunity to express their individual views on Iraq to the president without feeling the need to present a consensus view, said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary. Bush is set to hear from General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Admiral William Fallon, the senior commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East; and top U.S. commanders in Baghdad. Bush will deliver his own progress report by September 15, but in recent public statements he has suggested he intends to stick to his Iraq strategy for now.
