[Washington Post]
Peter Baker –
President Bush and his Cabinet are scaling back their personal diplomacy around the world to focus more intently on Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. In the past two weeks, Bush canceled a summit with Southeast Asian leaders in Singapore, Secretary of State Rice

scrapped a trip to Africa and decided to skip a meeting in the Philippines, and Defense Secretary Gates put off a swing through Latin America. The decisions underscore how much Iraq and the Middle East have come to consume Bush’s presidency.

Original post by Rachel Barenblat