Recommending a New Mission in Iraq

Dec. 6, 2006— -- The men in charge of the Iraqi study group tell ABC's Charles Gibson that they haven't talked to a single person who thought the U.S. should stay the course in Iraq. The question is what President Bush believes, and will he listen to the findings handed down in the report today. James Baker and Lee Hamilton sat down for an interview Wednesday after delivering their report to the president.

"It's very clear that everybody knows things are not going well. Everybody accepts the necessity of change, all through the White House, every expert you can find," Hamilton said in an interview today. "We did not find one single person, and we interviewed over 200 people who thought we should stay the course."

Baker said he did not know whether President Bush will adopt the numerous changes in the Bush administration's current policy recommended in the report, "but presidents have been known to change their minds. It may be that you will see some mind-changing, but you may not."

One of the Baker-Hamilton recommendations is that the U.S. transform its mission to training, equipping and supporting Iraqi units.

The two chairmen of the committee say they are concerned about the leverage the administration can bring to bear in Iraq. According to Hamilton, "The Iraqis must be under no misapprehension here. We are going to pull out our combat troops out of Iraq in a responsible way over a period of time and they have to begin to accept the new mission and we have to begin to accept the primary mission of training and embedding troops."

Baker was even more direct about the issue of leverage. "We say we could leave. We say we want them to know that whether they perform or not, we could leave. It's in our interest to effect a responsible transition. That's what the report says. "

The chairmen were unsure whether the Iraqi government could overcome the deep divisions of religion and tribe. "We can't guarantee that you're going to get a national government here, but we are where we are and we have to build on what we have," said Hamilton.