WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- The Bush administration is seeking assessments of progress in Iraq that would be likely to differ from the one Gen. David Petraeus must provide in September.
The New York Times reported Saturday that administration officials want to provide President George W. Bush with choices other than Petraeus' likely recommendation to keep U.S. forces at their current level for some time.
"The issue now is when do we start withdrawing troops and at what pace," one senior official said.
The official said Petraeus "wants as much time as he can get" but Bush may not be able to give it to him.
The Times said the alternative assessments would likely include a finding that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has not taken advantage of the U.S. troop increase to negotiate a political settlement. The assessment would also likely justify a drawdown of U.S. troops, the newspaper said.
Current troop levels would only be possible after April by extending tours of duty in Iraq and giving units shorter periods of time back in the United States between deployments.
