US President George W Bush convenes a two-day war council today at Camp David to reassess strategy on Iraq as he struggles with an increasingly unpopular war that has dragged down his ratings in a congressional election year.
Surrounded by top advisers, he may also have to contend with fallout from the suicides of three detainees held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Their deaths on Saturday triggered new international calls to close the detention camp.
Iraq, however, will dominate the agenda at the presidential retreat, where Mr Bush wants his national security team to meet away from their normal daily distractions.
His administration is eager to capitalise on the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and mastermind of some of the bloodiest bombings since a 2003 US-led invasion, as well as the long-awaited creation of an Iraqi unity government.
In a videoconference tomorrow, Mr Bush and his chief aides, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are expected to press Iraqi leaders not to squander the chance to assert their authority and win the confidence of Iraqis.
"There's a window here in which it's important for them to show success, and that is exactly why the meeting is taking place now, to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure the success," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said.
Although Mr Bush has tempered expectations that Camp David will yield a decision on troop reductions, no one is ruling out the possibility that future troop levels will be discussed, even as insurgent attacks persist in Iraq.