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    BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President George W. Bush is considering some of the major changes in Iraq policy that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested in a classified memo days before he resigned, a senior White House official said on Sunday.

    In the memo, Rumsfeld said the president should consider beginning "modest withdrawals" of U.S. and coalition forces, particularly from vulnerable areas.

    Rumsfeld also listed increasing the number of U.S. forces embedded with Iraqi forces, beefing up security near the Iranian and Syrian borders, and providing money to key political and religious leaders "as Saddam Hussein did."

    The memo also said more Iraqi troops could be placed with U.S. units, which would improve "our units' language capabilities."

    "Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough," Rumsfeld wrote.

    Bush agrees with Rumsfeld "that things are not proceeding well enough or fast enough in Iraq. We have to make some changes, we need a new way forward in Iraq, and that's what this policy review is all about," Bush adviser Stephen Hadley said.

    "What Secretary Rumsfeld did, I think very helpfully, was put together a sort of laundry list of ideas," Hadley said on ABC's "This Week."

    Bush said Saturday "I want to hear all advice before I make any decisions about adjustments to our strategy in Iraq. ¡­ The decisions we make in Iraq will be felt across the broader Middle East."

    In addition to an internal government review, Bush will look at recommendations from the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker that will release its report on Wednesday.

    The views of Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress, and the Iraqi government's goals, will also be factors as Bush makes decisions over the coming weeks.

    Rumsfeld announced his resignation Nov. 8, a day after Democrats won control of both houses of Congress. Bush's choice to replace him, former CIA director Robert Gates, has his confirmation hearing Tuesday in the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    (Agencies)

Independent panel agrees on U.S. troop withdrawal

    BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- An independent, bipartisan panel has unanimously agreed to recommend a gradual withdrawal of U.S. combat troops in Iraq, but did not set a firm timetable, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

    The commission is to release its conclusions on Dec. 6 in a report that could help guide U.S. President George W. Bush¡¯s conduct of the war. Full Story