Bush shows less faith in Iraq's leadership

WASHINGTON--When President Bush and Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq stood side by side in Jordan in November, the president proclaimed the prime minister "the right guy for Iraq."

By yesterday, that phrase had all but evaporated from Bush's lexicon.

Instead, Bush acknowledged "a certain level of frustration" with the Iraqi government's failure to unify its warring ethnic factions.

His comments were made just hours after the top American diplomat in Baghdad, Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, called the political progress in Iraq "extremely disappointing" and warned that US support for the Maliki government did not come with a "blank check."

It was not quite the vote of "no confidence" delivered by Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the Democratic chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who on Monday said Maliki should quit.

But it was a striking attempt by the White House to distance itself from the Maliki government before September, when the president's troop buildup will undergo an intense reevaluation on Capitol Hill.

That timing is no coincidence. Bush is already facing skepticism within his own party over the troop buildup, and will almost certainly confront another round of attempts by Democrats to force an end to the war.

So he seems to be laying the groundwork for a new message, one that says, "We're doing our job in Iraq; don't blame us if the Iraqis aren't doing theirs."

Bush is hardly ready to throw in the towel on Iraq. Today, in the first of two major speeches on the war, he is expected to hit hard against those who would force an end to the troop buildup.

Analysts said Bush does not appear to be trying to force Maliki out, if only because there is no obvious alternative.

Rather, they said, the president's remarks are aimed at a domestic audience.

Back in January, Bush sold the troop buildup to the country as a plan that would tamp down violence and create "political breathing space" to allow the Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurd factions in Iraq to create a unity government.

Bush is now acknowledging publicly what anyone who follows events in Iraq can plainly see: Only half the plan has worked.

He made his comments yesterday at the close of a two-day summit in Quebec with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.