Once every two weeks, sometimes more often, President Bush gathers with the vice president and the national security adviser in the newly refurbished White House Situation Room and peers, electronically, into the eyes of the man to whom his legacy is so inextricably linked: Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq...
In recent months, White House officials say, Mr. Bush has spoken more frequently with Mr. Maliki than just about any other foreign leader besides those of Britain and Germany.
Administration officials say the sessions have given Mr. Bush a forum to persuade Mr. Maliki to make more of a public show of being a leader to all Iraqis, not just his fellow Shiites. It was in the teleconferences, aides said, that Mr. Bush prevailed upon Mr. Maliki to implore his colleagues in Parliament to reduce their planned two-month vacation this summer, though their grudging concession to take just one month has not done much to quiet criticism.
The White House also believes that Mr. Maliki has made good on pledges to commit three new Iraqi brigades to Baghdad, the official said, and has given American and Iraqi forces more leeway to go after Shiite militias, though the official acknowledged that Shiite security officials sometimes block their pursuit...
Bush and Iraqi: Frequent Talks, Limited Results
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