Bad Week For Bush

From Ed HenryCNN White House correspondent


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Despite a week when he was clearly playing defense on his Iraq war policy, President Bush nevertheless rallied the party faithful Thursday night with a mantra he has uttered many times before -- failure is not an option in Iraq.

"If I didn't think it was worthy, if I didn't think it was necessary, if I didn't realize and believe that it's important to defeat al Qaeda in Iraq, I wouldn't have sent our young men and women there in the first place," Bush said.

"I don't want it to be said 50 years from now, 'What happened to America in 2007? How come they forgot the lessons of September 11? How come they couldn't see the impending dangers?' "

And yet, Bush's message came near the end of a week in which his staunchest ally on Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, announced he was leaving the political stage, and a group of anxious House Republicans came to the White House for what was described as a "frank" exchange about the looming political dangers of the war.


'The president is in a bubble'

The week's developments prompted one of Bush's leading critics on Iraq, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to charge Friday that "the president is in a bubble."

"He is isolated. Every day the ranks of dissatisfied Republicans grow," Reid, D-Nevada, said. (Watch how Bush's own party is pressuring him )

Presidential scholar Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution said Bush "has fewer friends, and I think he is beginning to realize even a determined, principled president, who is bent upon doing what he views is the right thing, runs out of room if he loses support within his own political party."

The White House sought to downplay any ominous portent to the meeting with the Republican delegation, noting that the president frequently meets with lawmakers and is used to hearing criticism. House Minority Leader John Boehner, who was part of the legislative group that went to the White House, said, "There are no fissures in our conference."

But one of the participants in the meeting, Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois, said he thought the president was "maybe sobered" by what members of his own party had to say.

"The fact is that I don't know if he's gotten that kind of opinion before in such a frank and no-holds-barred way," LaHood said.


British support may depart with Blair

Blair, who has seen his popularity plunge because of his steadfast support for the U.S.-led Iraq war, announced Thursday that he will resign June 27, ending 10 years as prime minister. Bush had an upbeat reaction to the news, saying he thinks Blair's expected successor, Gordon Brown, is "an open and engaging person" who "understands the consequences of failure" in Iraq.

However, Friday, in announcing his bid to lead Britain's ruling Labour Party, Brown seemed to put some distance between himself and Blair, saying that while "our obligations to the Iraqi people" will be met, "I do think that over the next few months the emphasis will shift."
(Watch what Brown brings to the table )

Brown cited the importance of political reconciliation, economic development and helping Iraqis "feel they've got a stake" in the country's future.

In a nod to antiwar Labour members, Brown also said, "I accept that mistakes have been made."


Bush bends a little

Amid this week's mounting pressure, though, there were signs of flexibility coming from the White House.

While Bush threatened to veto a new war funding bill approved by the House, which would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan only through July, he also signaled he is willing to work with Congress on language setting benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet.
(Watch how war funding could play out )

"I will continue to reach out to Democrats and Republicans to come up with a way to get this money to our troops as quickly as possible," Bush told Republicans at Thursday night's fund-raiser. "We don't want to put the men and women who wear our uniform in the midst of a Washington, D.C., debate."

The president also agreed Thursday to go along with demands from Democrats to add labor and environmental standards to proposed free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

"It's the first sign that the president is willing to make significant concessions to the new political reality on Capitol Hill and adjust his positions on some critical issues," Mann said. "I think he will confront this choice again and again if he wants to salvage anything from his second term." (Watch why Bush is showing willingness to compromise )

However, the president still faces an uphill battle securing victories on domestic priorities such as immigration reform, which splits his party, and renewal of one of the major achievements of his first term, the No Child Left Behind education reform plan, which is now drawing conservative opposition.

Ironically, on both immigration and education, the president may get more help from Democrats than Republicans.


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