With criticism of his Iraq policy mounting from all sides, President Bush headed overseas Monday for an urgent round of diplomatic talks that will culminate in a U.S.-Iraq summit in Jordan.
As Air Force One was ferrying Bush across the Atlantic, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared that Iraq was on the verge of civil war.
Given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there,” he told reporters in New York. “In fact, we are almost there.”
Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who will meet in Amman, Jordan, on Thursday, have insisted Iraq is not in a civil war, a view reiterated Monday by the State Department.
“I know that there’s been a lot of talk about Iraq and civil war, especially today,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. “It’s not our view. And, more importantly, it’s not the view of Prime Minister Maliki.
“And I think that he would be in the best position to judge such things that are occurring on the ground in Iraq, rather than us sitting here in New York or Washington,” he added.
This week’s presidential trip was originally planned as a tour of the Baltics, to be capped by a NATO summit on the alliance’s military mission in Afghanistan. But with violence unabated in Iraq, Bush decided a week ago to add a stop in Amman so he could huddle with al-Maliki.
“There reallyis no substitute for the two men getting together, sitting across a table and talking face to face,” said National Security Adviser Steve Hadley. “This is obviously an important time for both Iraqis and Americans in developing a way ahead.”
Before leaving Washington, Bush was briefed by Vice President Dick Cheney, who spent the weekend asking Saudi Arabia to use its influence in the region to help quell the violence in Iraq, according to National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. Cheney returned to the White House from Riyadh on Sunday.
The administration’s stepped-up diplomatic overtures come as various reviews of the U.S.-led war are nearing completion. The reviews are being conducted separately by the White House, the Pentagon and an outside group led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats, who won control of the House and Senate three weeks ago, are increasingly demanding that the U.S. begin to withdraw troops from Iraq in four to six months. Bush has steadfastly refused to set a timetable for withdrawal, saying it would aid the insurgents.
Noting that the Iraq war has lasted longer than America’s involvement in World War II, the Democratic National Committee issued a statement Monday saying there has been no real leadership from the Bush administration. “America is ready for a new direction.”
