President Bush will visit the Pentagon today to consult with senior Defense Department officials as part of the administration's overall review of U.S. policy in Iraq.
The president has spent most of this week discussing Iraq with administration officials and outside experts. He spoke to U.S. military commanders in Iraq on Tuesday by way of a video link, and met with Tariq al-Hashimi, Iraq's Sunni vice president, in the White House.
''The New York Times'' is reporting that Iraqi officials have presented a plan which calls for its troops to assume primary responsibility for security in Baghdad. U.S. forces will be redeployed to the city's outer edges.
The White House announced Tuesday that Mr. Bush will wait until early 2007 to announce his plans for Iraq. He had been expected to make the announcement before Christmas.