Bush is mentoring Iraqi's Prime Minister on leadership

One of the favorite talking points about the failed Iraq policy coming from the Bush administration is to blame the Iraqi leaders. That's an effort to shift the burden from Bush to Al-Maliki. It's wrong on some many fronts. After all, Bush did create the situation that has led to the chaos in the country.

But, now we know that Bush is actually trying to mentor the Iraqi prime minister. Yes, think about that. As if it's not bad enough for Al-Maliki, he has to get regular coaching sessions from the worst President ever. That's what we learned in today's NY Times:

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 sessions usually lasting more than an hour, Mr. Bush, a committed Christian of Texas by way of privileged schooling in New England, and Mr. Maliki, an Iraqi Shiite by way of political exile in Iran and Syria, talk about leadership and democracy, troop deployments and their own domestic challenges.

We don't need to know much more than that really. The Iraqi Prime Minister is getting leadership training from our failed leader. Yet, the Bush administration wants to blame the Iraqis for poor leadership.

This quote from Bush is classic and sums up the whole problem:

Mr. Bush has said that he has seen signs of improvement. Describing his regular contact with Mr. Maliki , Mr. Bush said in April, “I’ve watched a man begun to grow in office,” adding, “I look to see whether or not he has courage to make the difficult decisions necessary to achieve peace. I’m looking to see whether or not he has got the capacity to reach out and help unify this country.”

Let's apply George Bush test for Al-Maliki to George Bush:

Has Bush "begun to grow in office"? Not at all. He's actually regressed.

Have we seen "whether or not he has courage to make the difficult decisions necessary to achieve peace?" Not even close on that one.

And, we've all been "looking to see whether or not he has got the capacity to reach out and help unify this country." Ha, that's a joke.

Bush fails his own leadership test. Iraq's prime minister doesn't stand a chance with Bush as his teacher.