Member Center: | * Tools: # Bush gets early word on Iraq report ##### Adjust font size: WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Bush was briefed on a bipartisan panel's findings on Iraq Tuesday but the White House doubted the group's report would provide a "magic bullet" to quickly resolve the Iraq war. White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush had lunch with former Secretary of State James Baker, who as co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group has spent six months studying the Iraq war and working out recommendations on what to do. The 10-member group is to make its findings public Wednesday. Baker, a Republican and longtime Bush family friend, gave Bush an early description of the direction of the report. Many in Washington and abroad were anticipating the report as a possible path toward a major change of course in Iraq and a way for the United States to pull out of an unpopular 3 1/2 year war that has killed 2,905 U.S. troops. Snow took a more measured view. "I think anybody who expects ... a magic bullet out of the Hamilton-Baker commission is probably placing an unfair burden on them," he said. Officials familiar with the panel's recommendations have said they include shifting the U.S. military's role in Iraq away from combat over the next year or so. But the group, whose report is being issued amid soaring sectarian violence in Iraq, was not expected to suggest a hard timetable for the proposed U.S. pullback. The panel was also expected to recommend a regional conference that could lead to direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria, options Bush has opposed. Snow said Bush and White House officials were not "tensing for a punch" from the report. In recent weeks Bush has made clear that his goal remains the same -- that Iraq must be able to sustain and defend itself -- raising questions as to how seriously he will view the panel's recommendations. The White House has insisted Bush is not bound by the report's recommendations and that an internal review of Iraq policy is being conducted simultaneously by the Pentagon and the National Security Council. Bush told the Fox News Channel on Monday he respected Baker and his co-chairman on the panel, former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, but that "it's very hard for me to, you know, prejudice one report over another." "They're all important. I am going to listen to them, listen to what they have to say," he said. Bush meets the Iraq Study Group at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday to receive a copy of the report before it is made public. Baker and Hamilton were to appear Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Snow said Bush's initial reaction to the report on Wednesday will not be definitive because he will need time to study it. Copyright 2006 . All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. * Tools: #### Search TopicE-mail Alerts #### ### Former U.N. Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, a one-time Democrat who switched to the Republican Party and warmly embraced Reagan-era conservatism, has died. ... * (:48) * (3:24) * (2:15) * (2:57) * (Updated: 1:36 p.m. ET) President Bush and his staff met with the Iraq Study Group last month. #### ADVERTISER LINKS #### #### (2:50) (:56) #### VIDEO #### #### RELATED #### SPECIAL REPORT Interactive: Timeline: #### #### ##### Quick Job Search Enter Keyword(s): Enter City: Select a State - ALL - Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Dist of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Select Job Type Accounting Admin & Clerical Automotive Banking Biotech Broadcast - Journalism Business Development Construction Consultant Customer Service Design Distribution - Shipping Education Engineering Entry Level - New Grad Executive Facilities Finance General Business General Labor Government Grocery Healthcare Hotel - Hospitality Human Resources Information Technology Installation - Maint - Repair Insurance Inventory Legal Legal Admin Management Manufacturing Marketing Nurse Other Pharmaceutical Professional Services Purchasing - Procurement QA - Quality Control Research Restaurant - Food Service Retail Sales Science Skilled Labor - Trades Strategy - Planning Supply Chain Telecommunications Training Transportation Warehouse Languages --------- Arabic Japanese Korean Turkish (C) 2006 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. under which this service is provided to you. Read our . . SERVICES External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com Pay service with live and archived video.