Administration's Mixed Message on Iraqi Aid

Oct. 23, 2006 — -- This weekend, President Bush held a series of meetings with top advisers to discuss the strategy in Iraq as violence pushed the death toll for U.S. troops to 85 for October -- making this month the deadliest this year.

The White House has said the administration's goal is to get the Iraqi government to take control of its country and stop the sectarian violence.

The top commanders in Iraq said that the United States needed to set benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

The question, however, is how do you enforce those benchmarks?

Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, told ABC News today that "incentives" were key to getting Iraq on the path to self-governance, and he indicated those could be monetary incentives.

"Well, in some situations, we do have a lot of reconstruction funds, for example," Bartlett said today on "Good Morning America."

"If you have a solid political structure in place and a security climate, that way you can have money go into there. … There are a lot of ways to move them along the path, and that's something we're working on."

Later this morning, White House spokesman Tony Snow seemed to contradict Bartlett and shot down talk of monetary incentives.

"There is nothing new. He's not saying there is something new," Snow said. "That's the important thing is this is a continuation of a process. ... And this is an ongoing process. And the notion that something dramatic has changed, it's just not the case."

Snow said that the Iraqis already had an incentive to meet their benchmarks -- that's their natural desire to live a better life.

Bartlett also said that if U.S. generals asked for more troops, "They'll get them."

"Every time the president has been asked whether they need more troops or less troops, they have gotten the request," Bartlett said.

"The most recent conversations the president has had with the generals, they have not asked for more troops. But President Bush has made clear if they want them, they'll get them."

Gen. Jack Keane, former Army vice chief of staff and an ABC News consultant, said it was clear the situation in Iraq was "spinning out of control."

"The chairman of joint chiefs announced that he's put together a group, hand-selected officers brought to the Pentagon from different parts of the world to reassess the strategy, and certainly, troops and resources have got to be on the table," he said.

In his opinion, Keane said, more troops are necessary to stop the sectarian violence.

"We've not been able to stop the violence. That is a hard reality that we're dealing with," he said.