Bush Deciding Iraq Policy at Texas Ranch

President Bush, along with his dog Barney, steps from Air Force One after landing Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006, in Waco, Texas. The president will spend the week at his nearby ranch in Crawford. (AP Photo/Duane A. Laverty) (Duane A. Laverty - AP)

CRAWFORD, Texas -- After weeks of deliberation, President Bush is honing in on a national security team meeting at his Texas ranch that will take him a step closer to deciding a new U.S. policy in Iraq.

With each passing day that he gathers advice, Bush is creating more than a new way forward. He's building expectations that will be hard to meet no matter what he unveils.

By the time he announces his Iraq plan in January, roughly two months will have passed since Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the Nov. 7 election that was widely viewed as a referendum on U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Anticipation of Bush's decision is high not just because people are weary of war, but also because of the way Bush has gone about deciding his next move.

Saddled with a reputation for stubbornness, Bush has gone the other direction. He has made a visible effort to seek advice _ from the military, diplomats, academics, retired generals, a special study commission, Iraqi officials, Republican leaders, even Democrats he once ridiculed.

"The president wants to make sure the consequences of crafting a new way forward in Iraq are thought through and due consideration is given to the outcome of any new action that would be taken," deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said Tuesday in Crawford, where Bush is spending the week.

On Thursday, the president hosts a National Security Council meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pentagon officials said Tuesday that Gates isn't likely to offer a single solution but, rather, a broad set of recommendations for changing the course in Iraq. A senior Defense Department official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because Gates' advice to Bush is secret, said the recommendations "would involve many aspects of how we can do things differently."

Bush, suffering low approval ratings for his handling of Iraq, is not expected to make any final decisions at the meeting. Stanzel said there could be other National Security Council meetings before the president makes up his mind. He is to announce his decisions in a speech between now and the State of the Union address on Jan. 23.

Bush has promised a new approach, yet even Gates, his new defense secretary, has acknowledged that "there are no new ideas in Iraq."

Indeed, some of the main ideas under consideration _ sending in more troops, embedding more U.S. advisers in Iraqi units, engaging in more aggressive diplomacy _ aren't novel. And if Bush does come up with a remarkably fresh approach after nearly four years of war, that will raise the question of why he hadn't thought of it before.

No decisions have been made about possibly increasing U.S. troops in Iraq, but senior defense officials say Gates has signed orders that will send the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade to Kuwait shortly after the new year. That could be part of a short-term surge of troops to Iraq to quell ongoing violence.