The Jordanian Charade

President Bush tomorrow heads to Jordan for two days of face-to-face meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

But far from being a consequential summit of giants, it's more likely to turn out to be a big charade.

Bush does not approach Maliki from a position of strength. Back in Washington, all eyes are on the independent bipartisan Iraq Study Group, in anticipation of its recommendations about what to do. An angry electorate is increasingly demanding an exit strategy. And practically speaking, Bush has no good options in Iraq anymore. He's in a real pickle.

Bush said today that his goal for the meeting is to press Maliki for a plan to end the sectarian violence. (See Michael Abramowitz's story at washingtonpost.com.)

But Maliki is not exactly bringing a lot to the table either. He has only a tenuous hold on a central government that is largely incapable of exercising any authority outside the walled-in Green Zone.

Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay write for McClatchy Newspapers: "This is supposed to be a pivotal week for the U.S. venture in Iraq: President Bush is to meet Thursday in Jordan with Iraq's prime minister, and the blue-ribbon Iraq Study Group has begun debating its final recommendations to the White House.

"But does any of it matter?

"Not really, according to a growing number of Middle East analysts, who say that Iraq's cascading civil war has spun out of Washington's control. . . .

"Maliki's government is seen as increasingly ineffectual, particularly by Iraqis, who are turning more and more to local militias to protect them. What's more, Maliki needs the support of the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army is one of the powerful Shiite militias. Sadr's political party controls four ministries and the largest bloc of votes in parliament."

But never fear, the White House communications strategy -- if nothing else -- is coming into focus.

Mike Allen blogs for Time: "Republican officials briefed by the White House tell Time that the president will have something big to say in coming weeks. The president plans to combine the recommendations of James Baker's Iraq Study Group with findings from his administration and advice from Capitol Hill into what is being dubbed 'a way forward' for Iraq. . . .

"Bush seems headed toward coming with his own strategy, based on an array of recommendations. The officials would not say, and perhaps the White House has not decided, whether the president's plan will take the form of a single announcement or a series of speeches about helping Iraq make progress toward governing, sustaining and defending itself -- the White House's three-part goal."