By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, July 26, 2006; A02

There was trouble from the first question at yesterday's news conference by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The AP's Tom Raum had just asked a question about the violence in Iraq, and Bush looked down to gather his thoughts before turning to Maliki. "I'll start," the president said.

"Na'am," said Maliki, using the Arabic word for "yes."

"Okay, you start," Bush offered, evidently thinking Maliki had said "no."

"Na'am," Maliki said again.

"You want to start? Go ahead," the perplexed president pressed. Bush had by now put the interpretation device in his ear, an end to the who-goes-first game.

"Na'am," Maliki repeated. "Na'am."

In any language, Bush is having trouble getting to yes in the Middle East.

As 100 Iraqis perish a day in the violence, and as missiles pound Israel and Lebanon, Maliki came to Washington to show his resolve as he tries to put down the insurgency. But the two leaders, long on resolve, had few answers for the bloodshed in Iraq, and the mood was somber.

"Obviously, the violence in Baghdad is still terrible, and, therefore, there needs to be more troops," allowed the usually upbeat Bush.

The two made no effort to conceal their differences over the violence in Lebanon. Maliki wants an immediate cease-fire by Israel; Bush doesn't. "We had a frank exchange of views on this situation," Bush announced, using diplomatic code for "total impasse."

The Iraqi, whose views on Israel's military strikes are well known -- "I condemn these aggressions," he has said -- declared that he raised the issue "in all seriousness" with Bush and demanded an immediate cease-fire.

Leaping into the chasm between the two, Reuters's Steve Holland pressed Maliki to clarify his position on Hezbollah and asked Bush how he could stop the fighting if allies won't condemn the terrorist group. Both men responded with non sequiturs.

"The terrorists are afraid of democracies," Bush proffered.

"We'll be facing a variety of issues in different countries," Maliki added.

Nadia Bilbassy of al-Arabiya television wondered if there was a contradiction between Bush hastening both humanitarian aid to Lebanon and shipments of missiles and bombs to Israel, which will drop them on Lebanon. "No," Bush said, "I don't see a contradiction in us honoring commitments we made prior to Hezbollah attacks into Israeli territory."

The two men were more in accord on the Iraq violence. They both believe that problems there should be called "challenges."

"The prime minister understands he's got challenges," Bush said. He also acknowledged that "we still face challenges in Baghdad."

Maliki confirmed that they spoke ("frankly") about "all the current challenges." He slipped only briefly, at one point referring to "chronic problems."

In general, though, it was an uncharacteristically gloomy Bush who reined in his counterpart when the Iraqi ventured too far into Happy Talk. "We have achieved our first and initial success," Maliki said at one point, adding that the Baghdad security plan was "achieving its objectives in hunting the terrorist networks and eliminating it."

Bush, by contrast, noted that "coalition and Iraqi leaders are modifying their operational concept" in Baghdad and "will better reflect the current conditions on the ground."

In any event, the two agreed that, whatever the challenges or problems, Maliki had a plan to fix them. Several plans, actually.

"The prime minister has laid out a comprehensive plan," Bush said.

"The security plan for Baghdad has entered the second phase," Maliki reported, also alluding to his "national reconciliation plan." Maliki further clarified that "the circumstances that the Baghdad security plans or other plans related to Basra and other places are different in terms of circumstances from the previous plans."

Even as Bush recited many of his favorite platitudes -- "free and fair elections . . . vision for a free Iraq . . . the courage of the Iraqi people . . . extremists are brutal" -- the body language was subdued, and there was little of the jocularity Bush displays when he's feeling comfortable. The lone exception: a Bush nod and smile toward the American press corps when a reporter from al-Iraqiya, a network funded by the Pentagon and now the Iraqi government, rose to ask Maliki a gentle question.

Maliki, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and dark stubble, looked forward and down at his notes but rarely at Bush; as the president spoke, the prime minister frequently raised the left corner of his lips as if expressing wry amusement.

When the session ended, Bush attempted to lead Maliki out of the East Room, but the Iraqi hurried back to retrieve his notes from the lectern. "They'll get it, they'll get it," Bush called after him.

Maliki either didn't hear him, or didn't understand.