Here's the lede:

President Bush and his top advisors fanned out across the troubled Middle East over the last week to showcase their diplomatic initiatives to restore strained relationships with traditional allies and forge new ones with leaders in Iraq.

Here's the meat:

But instead of flaunting stronger ties and steadfast American influence, the president's journey found friends both old and new near a state of panic.

And here is the diplomatic understatement:

Mideast leaders expressed soaring concern over upheavals across the region that the United States helped ignite through its invasion of Iraq and push for democracy — and fear that the Bush administration may make things worse.

This is bad. We talked yesterday about the role of Iran in Iraq. We also discussed how to 'firewall' Iraq once we leave. But as the Times article makes clear that isn't going to be an easy task now that all the regional players are jostling for position.

What could make things worse, in the words of the Times? That's easy: the longer Bush stays in denial the greater the risk of regional war.