Leaked White House Memo Bashes al-Maliki

Nov. 29, 2006 — -- President Bush will make his way to Jordan today, where he'll have just 24 hours to talk with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki.

At the same time, a memo has been leaked that Bush's own administration has serious doubts about Maliki.

White House officials tell ABC News that there are serious doubts as to whether Maliki is willing or able to quell the sectarian violence in Iraq, because his own political survival depends on support from some of the Shiite militias responsible for the bloodshed.

The White House is confirming the veracity of the leaked classified memo from the president's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, that says: "The reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests al-Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action."

The document was prepared after Hadley met with Maliki in Baghdad last month. The administration has been careful not to be too harsh in public on Maliki, but Bush made clear in his most recent comments what his expectations would be from their meeting.

"My question to him will be, 'What do we need to do to succeed? What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?'" Bush said.

The real fear is that the goals that Maliki and the United States have for Iraq are not the same.

Dan Senor, former coalition provisional authority adviser in Iraq and a former Bush policy adviser, explained the conflict of interest today on "Good Morning America."

To curb chaos in Iraq, the United States will need to send more troops to the embattled country as well as attempt to appeal to Syria and Iran, although their assistance is "highly unlikely," Senor said.

"Ultimately if we want to stabilize Iraq, we're going to have to increase our presence there," Senor told "GMA."

Senor says the United States should also hope for, but not expect, help from Iraq's neighbors Iran and Syria.

"We are hoping that we can pressure Iran and Syria. … And get them to change their current strategy," Senor said.

Senor says the United States' ideal agreement would be that Syria would reduce funding to Iraq's larger militias.

"Our dream scenario [is] that he [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] will cut off the funding. … For some of the large militias in Iraq," Senor said. "It will be that much harder for the large militias in Iraq to operate."

That scenario, however, is "highly unlikely," he said.

Ahmadinejad "wants us bogged down in Iraq. So he can continue to build his nuclear program unabated," Senor said. "So keeping us mired in Iraq is sort of consistent with those objectives."

Syria could help control chaos in Iraq by exercising greater control over the Syria-Iraq border, according to Senor.