Annan Says Iraq Is Close to a Civil War

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel listens as President Bush speaks about immigration reform in Omaha, Neb., in this Wednesday, June 7, 2006 file photo. "If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price for this blunder, one that we will have difficulty recovering from in the years ahead," Hagel wrote in the Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006 Washington Post. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

WASHINGTON -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday that Iraq is close to civil war, as the Bush administration stepped up diplomatic efforts to stabilize the wartorn country.

Annan talked to reporters in New York as members of the Iraq Study Group were to discuss recommendations for changes in U.S. war strategy. President Bush left for a NATO summit in Europe, but much attention was directed toward a meeting he'll have later in the week with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan.

Asked by reporters at the U.N. if Iraq is in a civil war now, Annan replied, "I think given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact we are almost there."

Sectarian violence in Iraq is at its worst level in the roughly 3 1/2 years since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country and toppled Saddam Hussein. Bush's summit this week comes in the wake of talks that Vice President Dick Cheney held over the weekend in the region and as members of the special study commission mull recommendations.

The New York Times reported in Monday's editions that a draft report by the study panel led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III recommends aggressive regional diplomacy, including talks with Iran and Syria.

Anonymous officials who had seen the draft report told the Times it does not specify any timetables for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, although the commissioners are expected to debate the feasibility of such timetables.

The panel is expected to release its findings and recommendations in December.

Appearing Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," former President Jimmy Carter said that "at this point everybody is waiting" for the report. "My guess is that President Bush will take their advice as much as he possibly can," he added.

Carter said he would agree with any call for direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria over Iraq, adding: "This is one of the most counterproductive policies that I've ever known, ... not to talk to the people who disagree with you unless they agree in advance to everything you demand."

Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a potential presidential contender in 2008, said "it's not too late for the United States to extricate itself honorably from an impending disaster in Iraq."

"If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price for this blunder _ one that we will have difficulty recovering from in the years ahead," Hagel wrote in Sunday's Washington Post.

As the U.S. involvement in Iraq surpassed the length of America's participation in World War II, lawmakers have dwindling confidence in the U.S.-supported Iraqi government.