By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Facing strong pressure to shift course in Iraq, President George W. Bush said in a veiled message to Iran and Syria on Monday that Iraq's neighbors need to help Baghdad's struggling government survive. Bush consulted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top diplomatic officials as part of a high-profile focus this week on how to change strategy in Iraq, leading up to an announcement of his new plan possibly next week. He was also to meet a number of outside experts on Iraq later at the White House on Monday, hold a video teleconference on Tuesday with U.S. military commanders in Baghdad, then visit the Pentagon on Wednesday. He said he wanted to talk to both the diplomatic and military communities to make sure their recommendations are closely coordinated, "so that when I do speak to the American people, they will know that I've listened to all aspects of government and that the way forward is the way forward to achieve our objective: To succeed in Iraq." Bush is under pressure to shift strategy due to surging sectarian violence, rising U.S. casualties and American doubts about his handling of the Iraq conflict. The report of a bipartisan panel called the Iraq Study Group last week called the situation "grave and deteriorating" and said the current policy has failed. Bush has rejected a key recommendation of the Iraq Study Group -- holding direct talks with Iran and Syria -- because he believes Tehran is secretly building a nuclear weapon and Damascus is trying to destabilize Lebanon's government. But he has not ruled out the group's recommendation that the United States seek creation of a regional support group for Iraq that would include all countries that border Iraq -- Iran and Syria are among these -- as well as other key countries in the region and the world. In brief remarks after his visit to the State Department, Bush said he and Rice and the others "talked about the neighborhood, the countries that surround Iraq and the responsibilities that they have to help this young Iraqi democracy survive." "We believe that most of the countries understand that a mainstream society, a society that is a functioning democracy, is in their interests," Bush said. "And it's up to us to help focus their attentions and focus their efforts on helping the Iraqis succeed." On the wall behind Bush as he spoke hung a portrait of a co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, James Baker, a Bush family friend who is a former secretary of state. Bush is said to have privately chafed at news reports suggesting his father's loyalists, such as Baker, were needed to come up with a new plan for Iraq. He has insisted that the Iraq Study Group recommendations will be taken seriously, but that other internal reviews at the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council will also be weighed. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the State Department and National Security Council reviews were not completed. He was not sure if the Pentagon report was done. "There are still a number of issues that are under contemplation and discussion and being presented to the president for decisions," Snow said. (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Jeremy Pelofsky)
