Bush: Iraq Not In Civil War

President Says Violence Is Fault Of Al Qaeda Instigated Sectarian Conflicts

(CBS/AP)  Mr. Bush said Iraq is a sovereign nation, free to meet with its neighbors. "If that's what they think they ought to do, that's fine."

But he added that the U.S. will only deal with Iran when they suspend their program of enriching uranium, which could be used in a nuclear weapon arsenal.

"The Iranians and the Syrians should help — not destabilize — this young democracy," he said.

Martin says the only issue that seems to have the group engaged in debate is whether or not to recommend a timetable for the withdraw of U.S. troops, designed to pressure al-Maliki into acting more quickly to cease the violence.

Mr. Bush said he will be asking al-Maliki to explain his plan for stopping the attacks.

"The Maliki government is going to have to deal with that violence and we want to help them do so," the president said. "It's in our interest that we succeed."

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that a Marine Corps intelligence memo says the insurgency, and al Qaeda factions, are so strong in the volatile Anbar province that the U.S. Military is no longer able to defeat them there.

And a senior intelligence official tells the New York Times that the militant group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has been training members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.

Estonia, a former Soviet republic, was Mr. Bush's first stop en route to a NATO summit in neighboring Latvia where discussion will focus on the tens of thousands of alliance troops clashing in Afghanistan with insurgents, particularly in the south where the Taliban is resurgent.

Mr. Bush said in the news conference that NATO "members must accept difficult assignments." It was an apparent reference to the fact that only a handful of countries — primarily the U.S., Britain and the Netherlands — are doing much of the heavy lifting in the dangerous southern areas.

Some U.S. officials have openly hinted that Germany, for instance, which is now deployed in relatively stable northern areas, should move troops to the south. Thus far, however, Germany has balked at such suggestions.

An issue of high concern in central and eastern European countries is their lack of participation in a U.S. visa waiver program that allows business travelers and tourists to enter the U.S. for months using only a passport.

Mr. Bush promised to try to convince Congress to add more countries, like Estonia, to the program by adding new security elements to overcome wariness in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"It's in our nation's interest that people be able to come and visit," the president said.