By Mohammed Abbas
MANAMA, Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush should implement recommendations by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group soon, or face losing any consensus it has generated, delegates to a security forum in Bahrain said on Sunday.
The report gave Bush a platform to work with Democrats to launch a change in tactics for dealing with the worsening chaos in Iraq, but that time would be limited before 2008 presidential polls and the return of partisan squabbles, they said.
"Contrary to some assumptions that we have a year or more for holding this process ... my own assessment is we have 4-5 months," former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen said.
"If we do not see measurable progress on the ground in Iraq then you will see the ... 2008 election cycle become accelerated, candidates will be much more critical of the process and we will see the fragmentation of any consensus," he added.
The report's recommendations included talks with Iran and Syria on stabilising Iraq, withdrawing U.S. combat troops by early 2008, and reviving the Arab-Israeli process.
"The report ... extends the life of a lame duck president at least until the summer of 2007. That buys time for serious policy to be formulated for course correction," said Patrick Cronin of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Bush's goal is to outline a shift in course in a speech before the Christmas holiday. The White House has dismissed an appeal from former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, who led the Iraq Study Group with former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, that the group's report be adopted as a whole.
"As things stand I don't see Bush recognising that. At best they (Bush administration) will cherry pick Baker-Hamilton, at worst they'll just bury it," said Toby Dodge of Queen Mary University of London.
Dodge was one of a number of experts who disagreed with setting milestones and deadlines for change in Iraq, as outlined by Cohen and the Iraq report. They warned against forcing a timetable based on U.S. domestic politics on Iraq.
"(The report) ... is entirely referenced to the U.S. domestic debate on these on issues ... (it) only secondarily addresses itself to the problems in Iraq," IISS Executive Director Adam Ward said.
A regional defence consultant who declined to be named said: "You've got to square American domestic matters with a really large and pressing security concern (in Iraq). One understands this. But our view is that you cannot enter into this without being in for the long haul."
"It's a common European concern ... Look at the Balkans. They are only just now settling down to a functioning process over 10 years after regime change. Three and a half years is a very short time for a country as complex as Iraq," he added
