AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) - _President Bush_
(http://get.lingospot.com/f?url=http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=President+Bushsid=breitbart.comamp;eid=c
slamp;tid=ab80ac75bamp;site=breitbart.com) and his national security team
made a first-hand assessment of the war in Iraq and prospects for political
reconciliation Monday as a showdown nears with Congress over the U.S. troop
buildup.
The president secretly flew 11 hours to this air base in a remote part of
Anbar province, bypassing Baghdad in a symbolic expression of impatience with
political paralysis in the nation's capital. The gesture underscored the U.S.
belief that the spark for progress may come at the local level.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived ahead of Bush and conferred with
senior U.S. officials, including Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan
Crocker,
before a session with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal
Talabani, and other top Iraqi officials from Baghdad.
To a large degree, the setting was the message: Bringing al-Maliki, a Shiite,
to the heart of mostly Sunni Anbar province was intended to show the
administration's war critics that the beleaguered Iraqi leader is capable of
reaching out to Sunnis, who ran the country for years under _Saddam Hussein_
(http://get.lingospot.com/f?url=http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=Saddam+Husseinsid=
breitbart.comamp;eid=cslamp;tid=5e1f511dbamp;site=breitbart.com) .
Bush has held up Anbar as an example of recent progress, especially on the
security front, although the province is still economically deprived and not
yet stable enough to turn over to full Iraqi control.
Next week, Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Crocker testify
before Congress. Their assessment of the conflict, along with a progress report
the White House must give lawmakers by Sept. 15, will determine the next
chapter of the war.
The United States cannot sustain the troop buildup indefinitely. And with
Democrats calling for withdrawals and a rising U.S. death toll that has topped
3,700, the president is hardpressed to give al- Maliki's government much more
time to find a political solution to the fighting.
Bush stopped in Iraq ahead of his visit to Australia for an economic summit
with Asia-Pacific leaders. The trip was a closely held secret for obvious
security reasons, although speculation about the trip arose late last month
when
_first lady_
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t.com) _Laura Bush_
(http://get.lingospot.com/f?url=http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=Laura+Bushsid=breitbart.comamp;eid=cslamp;tid=fb4779149amp;site=
breitbart.com) said she was staying home to tend to a pinched nerve in her
neck.
The president, who also went to Iraq at Thanksgiving 2003 and in June was
scheduled to leave for Australia on Monday, but Air Force One took off from
Andrews Air Force Base Sunday evening instead.
He was joined by his top advisers, including National Security Adviser
Stephen Hadley. Joining Gates were Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the _Joint
Chiefs
of Staff_
(http://get.lingospot.com/f?url=http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=Joint+Chiefs%20of%20Staffsid=breitbart.comamp;eid=cslamp;tid=d76722fbbamp;sit
e=breitbart.com) , and Adm. William Fallon, the top U.S. commander in the
_Middle East_
(http://get.lingospot.com/f?url=http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=Middle+Eastsid=breitbart.comamp;eid=cslamp;tid=8166b510camp;site=breitbart.
com) . Fallon flew aboard Gates' Air Force plane from Washington.
Pengon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the session at al-Asad would be the
last big gathering of the president's war advisers with Iraqi leaders before
he makes a decision on a way forward in Iraq.
The White House arranged Bush's trip at a pivotal juncture in the Iraq
debate. Some prominent GOP lawmakers have broken with Bush on his war strategy,
but so far, most Republicans have stood with Bush. In exchange for their
loyalty, they want to see substantial progress in Iraq soon.
Making his case before the Sept. 15 report deadline, Bush recently delivered
a series of speeches to highlight how the temporary military buildup has
routed out insurgents and foreign fighters.
The president has described what he calls bottom-up progress in Iraq and
often cites a drop in violence in Anbar Province, once a hotbed of insurgency.
The turnaround occurred when Sunni Arab leaders joined forces with U.S.
troops to hunt down members of al-Qaida, although it's unclear whether they'll
back a unified Iraqi government as well.
Critics of the war argue that while the troop buildup may have tamped down
violence, the Iraqis are making almost no headway toward political
reconciliation. They cite a handful of gloomy progress reports trickling out of
Washington that show some success in curbing violence, but little
