President Bush and his national security team made a first-hand assessment of the war in Iraq and prospects for political reconciliation on Monday as a showdown nears with Congress over the US troop build-up.

The president secretly flew 11 hours to this air base in a remote part of Anbar province, bypassing Baghdad in a symbolic expression of impatience with political paralysis in the nation’s capital. The gesture underscored the US belief that the spark for progress may come at the local level.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived ahead of Bush and conferred with senior US officials, including Gen David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, before a session with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, and other top Iraqi officials from Baghdad. To a large degree, the setting was the message: Bringing al-Maliki, a Shiite, to the heart of mostly Sunni Anbar province was intended to show the administration’s war critics that the beleaguered Iraqi leader is capable of reaching out to Sunnis, who ran the country for years under Saddam Hussein. Bush has held up Anbar as an example of recent progress, especially on the security front, although the province is still economically deprived and not yet stable enough to turn over to full Iraqi control.

Next week, Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, and Crocker will testify before the Congress. Their assessment of the conflict, along with a progress report the White House must give lawmakers by September 15, will determine the next chapter of the war. The United States cannot sustain the troop buildup indefinitely. And with Democrats calling for withdrawals and a rising US death toll that has topped 3,700, the President is hardpressed to give Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s much more time to find a political solution to the fighting.

Bush stopped in Iraq ahead of his visit to Australia for an economic summit with Asia-Pacific leaders. The trip was a closely held secret for obvious security reasons, although speculation about the trip arose late last month when first lady Laura Bush said she was staying home to tend to a pinched nerve in her neck. The President, who also went to Iraq at Thanksgiving 2003 and in June 2006, was scheduled to leave for Australia on Monday, but Air Force One took off from Andrews Air Force Base Sunday evening instead. He was joined by his top advisers, including National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Joining Gates were Gen Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm William Fallon, the top US commander in the Middle East. Fallon flew aboard Gates Air Force plane from Washington.

Pengon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the session at al-Asad would be the last big gathering of the President’s war advisers with Iraqi leaders before he makes a decision on a way forward in Iraq. Some prominent GOP lawmakers have broken with Bush on his war strategy, but so far, most Republicans have stood with Bush. In exchange for their loyalty, they want to see substantial progress in Iraq soon.