Bush, the Blessed Peacemaker

In a joint statement with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el Sheikh, Bush sounded a bit defensive about his peace initiative: "I told the President I'm going to stay -- there's a wonder whether or not the American President, when he says something, whether he actually means it. When I say I'm coming back to stay engaged, I mean it. And when I say I'm optimistic we can get a deal done, I mean what I'm saying."

On the issue of Iraq, Bush said: "The decision to send more troops is working. Violence is down. Secretary Rice came back from Iraq yesterday and briefed me that she was able to see life returning back to the streets. The moms are out with their children, normal life is coming back. And political life is moving."

Opinion Watch

Maureen Dowd writes in her New York Times opinion column: "Blessed is the peacemaker who comes bearing a $30 billion package of military aid for Israel and a $20 billion package of Humvees and guided bombs for the Arabs. . . .

"W. has resumed his mantra of having a vision that turns into freedom that could develop into global democracy.

"W.'s peace train quickly gave way to the warpath, however, with Mr. Bush devoting a good chunk of time to the unfinished war in Iraq and the possibility of a war with Iran. . . .

"Arab TV offered an uncomfortable juxtaposition: Al Arabiya running the wretched saga of Gaza children suffering from a lack of food and medicine during the Israeli blockade, blending into the wretched excess scenes of W. being festooned with rapper-level bling from royal hosts flush with gazillions from gouging us on oil."

I wrote yesterday that Bush apparently said something incendiary in an interview with Fox News on Monday. (The interview isn't set to air until tonight.)

Dowd has the dope: "In meetings with leaders, [Bush] privately pooh-poohed the National Intelligence Estimate asserting that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. On Fox News, he openly broke with intelligence analysts, telling Greta Van Susteren about Iran: 'I believe they want a weapon, and I believe that they're trying to gain the know-how as to how to make a weapon under the guise of a civilian nuclear program.'"

No Visit to Iraq?

Hard to believe, but it looks like Bush is heading back from the Middle East without a "surprise" visit to Iraq.

As I wrote in my Sept. 17 column, Bush has made only three visits to Iraq since declaring that major combat operations were over more than four years ago, all of them stealthy and short. His total time in country: Less than 15 hours.

Jawboning Watch

Michael Abramowitz writes in The Washington Post: "With oil prices hovering around $90 a barrel, President Bush on Tuesday urged oil-rich countries to raise their output, but Saudi Arabia's oil minister said the world's largest producer would do so only 'when the market justifies it.' . . .

"Tuesday, the White House made oil a centerpiece of its public communication in the capital of the world's biggest oil producer, and Bush made clear his concern that the sharp increase in prices was a threat to the U.S. economy."