Dan Pfeiffer, spokesman for Obama's transition office, told USA Today Obama will meet with advisers and U.S. military leadership "to map out a responsible drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq along the pace and scope he outlined during the campaign."

Scholars at the Center for American Progress, a think-tank led by Obama's transition co-chairman John Podesta, have urged Obama to stay true to his campaign promise of a measured withdrawal, arguing that Iraqi politicians could delay difficult security decisions unless they know U.S. troops will be out by a specific date.

Advisers from the Center for a New American Security, meanwhile, say flexibility is needed for the timing and pace of the withdrawal. Their argument for flexibility is similar to those pressing for a measured withdrawal: It would avoid a security setback and give Iraqi politicians an incentive to pass legislation crucial to a long-term peace.

Outside observers say Obama may have to improvise in a way that might be expected. USA Today reported.

"Obama is going to find he has to chart a different course in Iraq than he campaigned on," says Reidar Visser, who runs the Iraq-focused Web site historiae.org.

Supreme Court hears Ten Commandments case WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument Wednesday on whether a city must accept all displays on public land if it allows one -- in this case the Ten Commandments.

The case comes out of Pleasant Grove City, Utah. The city's Pioneer Park has several "unattended" displays, including a Ten Commandment monument donated by the Eagles, a fraternal organization.

However, when a religious group called Summum, founded in 1975 and based in Salt Lake City, wanted to install its own Seven Principles of Creation (or Seven Aphorisms) monument, the city rejected the application.

A U.S. appeals court in Denver eventually ruled that if the city accepts one monument, it had to accept the other.

Lawyers for the city and the Bush administration argued that the country's parks would be smothered in displays if all must be accepted, The Salt Lake City Tribune said. "The Vietnam Wall Memorial did not open us up to a Viet Cong Memorial," Assistant U.S. Solicitor General Daryl Joseffer said, the newspaper reported.

Summum attorney Pamela Harris said the National Mall, where the Wall is placed, is protected by the free speech exception on federal government land, but Pleasant Grove claims the Ten Commandments monument isn't even city owned.