From the Desk of:
  BOB LIEBMAN,
14 San Pedro Lane,
Edgewood, NM 87015

Wednesday, 7 March, 2007

GEORGE W BUSH,
  President of the United States of America,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Washington, DC 20500

White House C/S, NSC and cc James Nicholson all sent initially via e-fax on date of writing, original (signed) to follow by First Class Mail. All others, to the degree possible, sent via First Class Mail.

Subject: Middle East Proposal Follow Up Letter to My Earlier of 24 November, 2006

Mr. President-

I am writing this Proposal as a follow up to my earlier letter to you of 24 November past, to which I received a brief response from your DVA Secretary and my West Point classmate, Jim Nicholson.

First of all, let me congratulate you in your obvious decision to facilitate the Government of Iraq offering invitations to the governments of Syria and Iran to convene a ‘Neighbors’ Meeting,’ along with the five permanent members of the United Nations.

This is clearly, in conjunction with both my recommendations to you as well as those of the Iraq Study Group, a good first step.

There are many things to be concerned about, however, Mr. President, regarding the possible outcome of this first initiative, in the light of matters on the ground in Iraq.

Perhaps the news doesn’t always have it right. But, if I understand matters correctly, as I have received same through CNN, sometimes MSNBC, and on occasion AP and other releases in the Albuquerque Journal, the current prognoses for Iraq are not good.

1. Both DIA and CIA appear to be offering dire prognoses, perhaps in the range of 12-18 months for sufficient progress or untenable results otherwise, and,
2. General Petraeus and his inner core of 5 key advisors have purportedly indicated a time frame of only 6 months to have matters turned around.

Other news has General Petraeus, and possibly his Deputy, Lt. General Ray Odierno, indicating progress.