THURMONT, Md., June 12 (UPI) -- President Bush Monday began two days of discussions on Iraq's future with a three-hour teleconference with top U.S. officials in Iraq and Washington.
Bush was joined at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and others. Speaking from the Green Zone in Baghdad were U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Army Gens. John Abizaid, head of Central Command, and George Casey, commander of the multi-national task force in Iraq.
Dan Bartlett, a presidential counselor, told reporters after the meeting that the group discussed Zarqawi's death as a "fundamental breaking point for the Iraqi people."
"The post Zarqawi climate is still viewed as serious and vexing," he said.
Bush and other officials planned to spend the afternoon in a meeting with a number of independent experts on Iraq. The president is scheduled to have a teleconference Tuesday with the Iraqi prime minister.
