Posted by Mark Silva at 12 am CST (and 8 am Jordan time)

AMMAN, Jordan -- The delayed meeting of President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki finally is underway here, according to the report we have from the pool -- not to be confused with that luscious pool lurking outside our hotel window on a bright, cloudless morning here -- the reporting pool.

And soon we will make our own actual personal crossing to the hotel across the street where the president and prime minister are meeting. And soon, you will be hearing from someone other than the "senior administration officials'' who for the last couple of days have been explaining away that embarassing memo that the White House produced about al-Maliki and explaining away the fact that Bush, al-Maliki and King Abdullah II of Jordan did not meet and dine together last night.

This is the pool at our hotel in Amman. Photo by Mark Silva

There was an armed guard on the floor of my hotel as I went to bed sometime not too long ago, and there was an armed guard posted there this morning as I came downstairs.

I said, good morning. He said, good morning.

It is indeed a good morning in Amman. Silva

Bush and al-Maliki will meet the press this morning after a couple hours of breakfast and meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel. It will be one of those abbreviated press conferences, two questions for reporters from each country. But it should prove more satisfying than the anonymous accounts of the runup to this meeting that we have been receiving from senior administration officials.

The king has left the country this morning - making a planned visit to India -- leaving the two leaders to account for themselves.

It is a loathesome practice, this Washington-based practice of attributing anything to anonymous senior administration officials. It corrodes public confidence in journalism -- is everyone sure that we are actually quoting a real person, or only making it up? We are not making it up, I can assure you. And it should corrode public confidence in government. Is anyone wondering why senior members of our government cannot speak with authority, in the deliverance of civil comments, with their names attached? Is that Washington's idea of accountability? Or deniability?

Soon these questions will be left for others to ponder, as the true senior officials of these two governments, Bush, and al-Maliki, account for the very short time they have spent here together.

There was an armed guard on my floor last night and this morning, and there are plenty of guards and sharpshooters surrounding the meeting of Bush and al-Maliki here today. Silva