that a debate is underway to determine what conditions must exist, short of victory, to begin pulling troops out of Iraq. Still, White House press secretary Tony Snow said that all of the additional troops had just gotten in place and it would be unrealistic to expect major progress now. "You are not going to expect all the benchmarks to be met at the beginning of something," Snow said.
"You are hoping that you are going to be able to see progress in terms of meeting benchmarks from that beginning stage to what you see in two months." The administration also tried to lower expectations about a report due Sunday on whether the Iraqi government is meeting political, economic and security benchmarks that Mr. Bush set in January when he announced a buildup of 21,500 U.
S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates shortened a planned trip this week so he would be in Washington to attend policy meetings aimed at coming up with the report to Congress. In Florida for a military ceremony, Gates participated in a video conference Monday morning with the president's national security team, said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.
He was to have continued on to Latin America, but changed his plans so he could return to Washington Monday afternoon. Asked if Pentagon officials were studying a change in Iraq strategy, Whitman would say only that the military is "focused on implementing" the current strategy. The boost in troop levels in Iraq has increased the cost of war there and in Afghanistan to $12 billion a month, with the tally for Iraq alone nearing a half-trillion dollars, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which provides research and analysis to lawmakers.
The figures call into question the Pentagon's estimate that the increase in troop strength and intensifying pace of operations in Baghdad and Anbar province would cost only $5.6 billion through the end of September. Bush is under growing pressure even within his own party to shift course in Iraq as the war drags on and casualties climb.
At least 3,605 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003.
Bush's approval rating in the polls has sunk to record lows. Susan Collins of Maine, ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said there had been "a steady erosion for the president's policy" in Congress because of the "tremendous loss of life among our troops" in June and "the failure of the Iraqi government to pursue the political reforms that are necessary to quell the sectarian violence." Bush vetoed legislation that would have set a deadline for U.
S. that a debate is underway to determine what conditions must exist, short of victory, to begin pulling troops out of Iraq.
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