WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- President Bush and other key U.S. officials began two days of intense discussions Monday on Iraq strategy.
The talks, held at the presidential retreat of Camp David, Md., follows Cabinet appointments by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that complete formation of the country's first elected constitutional government.
The appointments comprised the ministers defense, interior and national security.
On Monday, strategy sessions at Camp David involved Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalizad, as well as intelligence chiefs and others. Top U.S. commanders in Iraq were participating via satellite link from the field.
Maliki and members of his Cabinet were joining the talks by satellite hook up on Tuesday.
"We'll get a realistic appraisal about the capacity for standing up Iraqi troops as this new government begins to function as a government," Bush said Friday. "Once we make those assessments, then I think I'll be able to give the American people a better feel for what 'stand up/stand down' means."
Maliki has said he hopes for coalition-trained Iraqi security forces to be fully operational and capable of establishing security within 18 months.
Bush said other assessments to be made include the agenda of the Maliki government and U.S. efforts to support the new government.
