Bush Losing Control of Agenda

Cracks in the Facade?

Peter Baker and Thomas E. Ricks write in The Washington Post that Bush yesterday "seemed to douse the idea of withdrawal in response to news reports about the Iraqi Study Group's recommendations. . . .

"But aides later cautioned against interpreting that as opposition to any change in the U.S. troop posture. 'That's not the case,' said one senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 'His position is he's not entering this process with defeat on his mind' for the sole purpose of getting out, the official said. Some options being discussed by the Iraqi Study Group and his own administration's internal policy review, the official said, are 'things that he's very open to.' . . .

"Maliki, too, signaled that he would be receptive to such a transition in six months. 'I can say that Iraqi forces will be ready, fully ready, to receive this command and to command its own forces. And I can tell you that, by next June, our forces will be ready,' he told ABC News."

The White House Review

Robin Wright writes in The Washington Post about the White House's own crash review of Iraq policy, and where it's headed.

"The Bush administration is deliberating whether to abandon U.S. reconciliation efforts with Sunni insurgents and instead give priority to Shiites and Kurds, who won elections and now dominate the government, according to U.S. officials.

"The proposal, put forward by the State Department . . ., follows an assessment that the ambitious U.S. outreach to Sunni dissidents has failed. . . .

"The policy review team briefed President Bush on Sunday evening with a 15-page slide presentation of its incomplete findings. Although differences have not yet been sorted out, the presentation coalesced heavily around a tilt to the Shiites, sources said. The White House review was then put on hold for Bush's summit with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"The administration had initially hoped to pull together its review about the time the Iraq Study Group released its report, but en route home from the Bush-Maliki summit in Jordan, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said changes to U.S. strategy may still be weeks away."

David Ignatius writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "The administration seems to be leaning toward a more polite version of this 'pick a winner' approach, which is to support the Shiite-led government and an Iraqi army that is overwhelmingly Shiite and Kurdish. Officials hope they can contain the sectarian fighting short of full-blown civil war and partition of the country."

The Amman Summit

I wrote at length about Bush's Amman summit in yesterday's column, but here's a bit of this morning's coverage:

Peter Wallsten and Solomon Moore write in the Los Angeles Times: "Seeking to recover from a series of diplomatic gaffes, President Bush on Thursday extolled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's 'courage' and vowed to help him gain greater authority over security forces in the struggle to quell violence.

"But after about two hours of meetings, the leaders announced no new initiatives or specific plans, and Bush returned to Washington without offering details about how and where a transfer of authority would occur -- or how quickly it might stem the civil war. . . .