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Show DAILY HERALD Sunday, September 9, 2007 A3 Opposing views on Iraq are coming to ahead Peter Baker THE WASHINGTON The polite discussion in the POST WASHINGTON For two hours, President Bush listened to contrasting visions of the U.S. future in Iraq. Gea David H. Petraeus dominated the conversation by video link from Baghdad, making the case to keep as many troops as long as possible to cement any security progress. Adm. William J. Fallon, his superior, argued instead for taking more risks in Iraq in order to have enough forces available to confront other potential threats in the regioa White House Situation Room a week ago masked a sharper clash over the U.S. venture in Iraq, one that has been building since Fallon, chief of US. Central Command, which over-- , sees Mideast operations, sent ; a rear admiral to Baghdad this summer to gather inf ormatioa Soon afterward, Fallon began developing plans to redefine the U.S. mission and radically draw down troops. One of those plans, according to a Centcom officer, involved slashing U.S. forces in Iraq from 168,000 to about 35,000 by 2010. Japan to extend its . . In an interview, Fallon disputed that description but declined to offer details. Nonetheless, his efforts offended Petraeus's team, which saw them as unwelcome intrusion on their own long-terplanning. The profoundly different views of the U.S. role in Iraq only exacerbated the schism between the two men. "Bad relations?" laughed a senior civilian officiaL "That's the understatement of the century. ... If you think Armageddon was a riot, that's one way of looking at it." For Bush, the eight months since announcing his "new way forward" in Iraq have been about not just organizing a major force deployment but managing a remarkable conflict within his administration, action mounting a against Congress and navigating a dysfunctional relationship with an Iraqi leadership that has proved incapable of delivering what he needs. Although the administration has presented a united front, . senior officials remain split over whether Bush's strategy will work in the long term. Bush gambled that a "surge" rear-guar- d of some 30,000 troops in the streets of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar would establish enough security to give "breathing space" to Iraq's sectarian leaders to find common ground. As Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker deliver progress reports to Congress on Monday, the questions they are likely to face are the same ones asked internally: How long should the troop buildup last? When should U.S. forces start to come home? Should the United States stand by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri or seek another leader? What are the hidden risks of the emerging alliance with Sunni tribal leaders? What is the best outcome Washington can hope for at this point? Amid the uncertainty, the overriding imperative for Bush these past eight months has been to buy time time for the surge to work, time for the Iraqis to get their act together, time to produce progress. But now, as a result of a casual idea by Petraeus that hardened into an unwelcome deadline, -the administration finds itself at a pivotal moment, , MUC i)ni?VrfrTitiipini;il (Gointafi&ir 1. North Korea sanctions THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN TOKYO The government has decided to extend its sanctions on North Korea for another six months from Oct. 13, when they were set to expire, because no significant progress on the abduction issue was made during recent bilateral negotiations in Ulan Bator, according to government sources. The negotiations were held Wednesday and Thursday by the Japan-Nort- h Korea normalization working group of the y talks. The deadline for the sanctions were last extended in April. The sanctions include: I Total ban of port entries d of North A six-part- Korean-registere- vessels. I Total ban on imports from North Korea. I Prohibition of entry into Japan by North Korean nationals, in principle. I Ban on exports of "luxury goods." The sanctions were imposed after North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Oct. 8 last year. talks on North The y Korea's nuclear development program have shown some progress on, for instance, the suspension of the Yongbyon nuclear facility. However, the denuclearization process is still unclear, and the North Korean government has not taken or suggested any concrete actions to deal with Japan's demands, which include calls for a reinvestigation of the abductions of Japanese by North Korean agents. "If we decide to discontinue the sanctions at this stage, the public won't support the government's decision and, at the same time, it will send the wrong message to North Korea," a government source said. six-part- Let the Sunshine in! ' k. 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