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WASHINGTON - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates rushed back to Washington on Friday to give President Bush his advice on transforming US policy in Iraq after holding three days of talks in the war zone with military and political leaders.

In this image released by the US Department of Defense, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, front, attends a joint press conference with Iraq's Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obaidi in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. Gates, on his second day of a visit to Iraq, said he talked with the country's leaders about how the US can best play a supporting role. [AP]

Gates was scheduled to see Bush at Camp David first thing Saturday morning, said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch, who has been coordinating Bush's review of Iraq policy, were also to attend the discussions at the Maryland mountain retreat where Bush was spending Christmas.

As the president weighs a course correction in the increasingly unpopular war, the White House also announced that Bush would convene a meeting of his full National Security Council next Thursday while spending a few days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. That session was not designed to arrive at final decisions, but to continue to whittle down the options, Perino said.

Originally aiming to unveil his new Iraq policy before Christmas, Bush has put it off until January. Perino said the announcement would come before his scheduled Jan. 23 State of the Union address, but gave no specific date.

Gates arrived in Washington on Friday night. Before leaving Baghdad, he declined to say whether he plans to recommend a short-term increase in US troop levels. But he said he believes the U.S. and Iraqis have "a broad strategic agreement between the Iraqi military and Iraqi government and our military."

"There is still some work to be done," Gates said. "But I do expect to give a report to the president on what I've learned and my perceptions."

Speaking to reporters at Camp Victory, with the sounds of artillery fire and jet aircraft in the background, Gates said that "clearly there are more discussions that need to take place in Washington and more specific recommendations."

He said Gen. George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, was continuing to work with Iraqi officials, with more details expected in the days ahead.

Gates said he is "quite confident that what I've heard from the Iraqis of their plans this week, that we will be able together, and with them in the lead, we will be able to make an improvement in the security situation in Baghdad."

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