Talks on Iraq produce no major shift

AMMAN , Jordan -- President Bush and Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, met yesterday for the first time since sectarian killings in Iraq surged to record levels but offered no new blueprint for quelling the chaos, thwarting the hopes of those pushing for a dramatic shift in US policy.

Bush pledged yesterday to speed the transfer of security responsibilities to the Iraqi government and strongly endorsed Maliki, despite a leaked White House memo that raised questions about the prime minister's leadership.

Bush also reiterated his promise not to withdraw US troops quickly, just days before a high-level commission is expected to recommend a major pullout of American forces. The commission's recommendations -- anticipated for months -- along with the Democratic victory in Congress and the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, have raised expectations of a major turning point on Iraq policy. But Bush told reporters yesterday not to expect one.

"I know there's a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there's going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq," Bush said, as Maliki stood nearby during their joint news conference in the Jordanian capital. "We're going to stay in Iraq to get the job done, so long as the government wants us there."

Analysts said the meeting broke no new ground and instead highlighted what appears to be a growing rift between the White House and Maliki's government.

"The two sides are very, very far apart," said Kenneth Katzman, an analyst at the Congressional Research Service, Congress's research arm. Katzman said Maliki would like to use Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated security forces to come down hard on the Sunni-led insurgency, while the White House is urging political compromise with Sunnis. "There is obviously no consensus about what needs to be done," Katzman said.

Bush and Maliki's meeting -- truncated into a breakfast session after Maliki canceled a dinner discussion scheduled for Wednesday night -- brought together an unprecedented number of top American officials involved with Iraq policy for a session with the Iraqi leader, who has presided over the country's most violent and turbulent period since Saddam Hussein was toppled.

During the hourlong talks, a security team that includes General George Casey, the top US general in Iraq, and several of Maliki's advisers presented a proposal to speed the handover of responsibility for security throughout the country to Iraqi troops, White House officials said. Maliki told ABC news yesterday that Iraqi forces would be ready to take full control of security by June 2007, but Bush gave no timetable for such a transfer.

Bush and Maliki met one-on-one in a meeting designed to strengthen their relationship, White House officials said. When they emerged, they issued few details about the proposal to transfer security responsibility.

"Here's a man who has been elected by the people; the people expect him to respond, and he doesn't have the capacity to respond," Bush said of Maliki. "And so we want to accelerate that capacity."

Despite acknowledging the challenges of Maliki's situation, Bush downplayed a memo from National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley that described Maliki as ineffectual and mired in the sectarian currents that are driving much of Iraq's violence.

"He's the right guy for Iraq, and we're going to help him, and it's in our interest to help him, for the sake of peace," Bush said.

Maliki canceled his dinner meeting Wednesday with Bush and King Abdullah of Jordan after The New York Times published the memo Tuesday.

Bush did not offer any specific plan to improve the reliability of the corrupt and ineffectual Iraqi military and police or to dampen the insurgency and ever-growing sectarian violence.

Still, he made it clear that the White House -- not Congress or any independent advisory panel -- would steer Iraq policy, and repeated familiar themes about the need for a democractic government in Iraq, disppointing many critics back at home who had hoped that the administration would change course.

"He keeps on talking about victory," said P.J. Crowley, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former National Security Council staff member in the Clinton administration. "Given the level of sectarian violence, it is hard to see what relevance military victory has."

After the Bush-Maliki news conference, US Representative Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said: "I am losing what little confidence I had left that the administration knew what it was doing." Although Bush said he had full confidence in Maliki yesterday, Frank said,"Nobody believes him anymore."

The worsening violence has increased the pressure for a major change in US strategy.

The New York Times reported yesterday that a bipartisan commission known as the Iraq Study Group will call on Wednesday for a gradual reduction in US troops, without recommending a firm deadline.

The group is also expected to recommend that the United States seek talks with regional players -- including Iran and Syria -- to solve Iraq's security problems, a step Bush indicated yesterday he would not pursue.

Violence has spiraled since the bombing of a major Shi'ite Muslim shrine in February, which touched off a wave of sectarian killing. September and October were the deadliest months so far for Iraqi civilians, with 7,054 killed, according to the United Nations. In the past six months, 250,000 Iraqis have also been displaced from their homes.

In continuing violence yesterday, Iraqi officials said 47 people had been killed, including 37 found dumped in various parts of the country.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Security forces with varying degrees of training are arrayed against this tide of violence. As of this week, an estimated 188,200 Iraqi police were trained and on duty, while there were 134,400 members of the Iraqi armed forces, according to the Iraq Index, compiled by the Brookings Institution in Washington.

But in the most violent areas, Iraqi troops have proved incapable of doing the job alone. Sectarian militias and death squads have infiltrated many police units, further discrediting the security forces.

Yesterday, Maliki said he wanted more leeway to use military force, saying, "The Iraqi forces and the security forces have reached a good level of competency and efficiency to protect Iraq as a country and to protect its people."

But the US military's assessments have consistently underestimated how long it takes to train an effective Iraqi military unit.

Bush and Maliki skirted the question of the sectarian carnage, much of it blamed on Shi'ite death squads linked to Maliki's own government. Maliki has come under fire not only from the White House but also from his own Shi'ite allies in Baghdad, where followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew from the government to protest the meeting with Bush.

Maliki issued a rare warning to Sadr yesterday not to undermine the Iraqi government, which nominally represents all the nation's major sects and political parties.

"Mr. Sadr and the Sadrists are just one component that participate in the parliament or in the government," Maliki said. "And I think participating in the government is a responsibility and it's a mutual commitment, and those who participate in this government need to bear responsibilities."

Stockman reported from Washington. Bryan Bender of the Globe staff contributed from Washington.