The New York Times' November 30 article on the last-minute decision by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and Jordan's King Abdullah II to bow out of the previous day's scheduled summit with President Bush featured the headline: “Iraq's Premier Abruptly Skips a Bush Session.” While the Times' headline clearly indicated that Maliki had chosen to “skip” the summit (thereby delaying his meeting with Bush until November 30), The Washington Post proclaimed: “Bush, Maliki Put off Meeting” -- suggesting that the decision to postpone the meeting was mutual. The Los Angeles Times proclaimed that the November 29 summit was “canceled” -- offering no indication that Maliki had backed out of the meeting.

The original version of the Post article is no longer available on the Post's website. The version currently available was posted after Bush met with Maliki on November 30, and features the headline: “Bush, Maliki Meet After First Talks Are Canceled.” Both versions, however, note that a “senior official” said that “the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, had received word in the afternoon from the Jordanians and the Iraqis that there was no need for a three-way meeting. Khalilzad called Air Force One, on its way to Amman [Jordan] from Latvia, with the news. This official said Bush concurred.” While this account of events differs somewhat from The New York Times' description of Abdullah and Maliki's “abruptly back[ing] out of a meeting with President Bush,” the article does convey that Maliki and Abdullah initiated the cancellation of the scheduled November 29 meeting. The Post article further noted that the White House press corps “repeatedly challenged” the administration's explanation of why the meeting had been postponed. But neither the Post's original headline, “Bush, Maliki Put off Meeting,” nor its amended headline, “Bush, Maliki Meet After First Talks Are Canceled,” accurately conveys what the article reported about how the cancellation came about.

According to The New York Times article, Maliki's decision to not attend the November 29 meeting “occurred on a day that a classified White House memorandum expressing doubts about Mr. Maliki was disclosed and after Iraqi officials loyal to a powerful Shiite cleric said they were suspending participation in the Maliki government because he had ignored their request to cancel the Bush meeting entirely.”

A November 30 New York Daily News "analysis" quoted an anonymous “former top Bush aide” who suggested that Maliki likely postponed the meeting because he was “ripped.” From the Daily News:

“You never postpone something like this at the last minute unless somebody's ripped,” said a former top Bush aide, “and it's probably Maliki.”

The Los Angeles Times' November 30 article was headlined: “Bush meets Maliki, stands firm on Iraq: His comments come after his initial talks with the prime minister were abruptly canceled.”