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Bush Consults Iraq’s Sunni Vice President on Policy Shifts, December 12, 2006
President Bush met with Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi December 12 to discuss the security situation in Iraq and
ways the United States can help the Iraqi government achieve stability.
After their meeting, Bush said: “He spoke eloquently about the suffering that innocent families have gone through. And my heart
goes out to those, Mr. Vice President, who have suffered at the hands of the extremists and killers. Our objective is to
help the Iraqi government deal with the extremists and killers and support the vast majority of Iraqis who are reasonable
people who want peace.” (...)
President George W. Bush meets with Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi of Iraq.
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Bush Discusses “New Way Forward” in Iraq at State Department, December 11, 2006
Bush conferred with leaders of provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs), who are engaged in reconstruction and
government advisory operations at the local level throughout Iraq.
“I appreciate the advice I got from those folks in the field. And that advice is an important part, an important component
of putting together a new way forward in Iraq,” Bush said after the meeting at the State Department. (...)
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Space Shuttle Lifts Off in
First Night Launch Since Columbia Accident, December 9, 2006
Space shuttle Discovery successfully launched at 8:47 p.m. EST December 9 for the first nighttime liftoff since the loss
of the space shuttle Columbia.
Discovery will deliver another truss segment of the International Space Station and crew members
will rewire the orbiting laboratory to bring online new power supplies generated by solar arrays installed in September. (...)
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Gates Outlines U.S. Strategic Defense
Priorities, December 12, 2006
Questions about Iraq dominated Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates' recent Senate confirmation hearing, but he
also offered insight into his perspective on security issues related to Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea.
The U.S. Senate on December 6 approved Gates to become the next secretary of defense. He will succeed Donald Rumsfeld, who
has held the post since the beginning of the Bush administration in 2001. Gates will be sworn in at a Pentagon ceremony
December 18. (...)
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U.N. Human Rights Council Holds First Special Session on Darfur, December 12, 2006
The United Nations Human Rights Council opened its first special session on Darfur against a backdrop of escalating violence
in the region that has forced many humanitarian agencies to evacuate staff and left the population even more vulnerable.
The December 12-13 meeting in Geneva is considering measures the council might take to address the crisis, including possibly
dispatching an urgent assessment mission to the area. (...)
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