The Bush administration lamented the newest flare up of civilian strife in Iraq, even as the White House looked with anticipation toward a meeting next week between President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. «We condemn such acts of senseless violence that are clearly aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's hopes for a peaceful and stable Iraq,» White House spokesman Jeanie Mamo said as the first family spent Thanksgiving at their Catoctin Mountain retreat in Maryland. «The United States is committed to helping the Iraqis,» Mamo was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
