As a result, President Bush committed leadership. He thought about the matter and recognized that intense and immediate Iraqi involvement was critical to success. In about 45 seconds of honest, open comment, Mr. Bush signaled to both the U.N. and the forming Iraqi government what needed to be done. And by saying so in public, he risked being judged adversely if it doesn't happen in the way he described.

 In another instance, the president was asked to comment on the recent rude statement by Mr. Al-Yawer -- the Iraqi president who was chosen only hours before the press conference. Mr. Al-Yawer had complained about the "blunders" of U.S post-war planning.

  At first, the president fell back on the oft-heard canned response that several things didn't go wrong (refugees, oil field disruptions, food shortages). But then he agreed the violence remained bad, that he expects Iraqi leaders to speak for Iraq, not the United States and, at another moment, he observed that it was "up to the (Iraqi) leaders to prove their worth to the Iraqi people" -- a blunt and useful, if not very diplomatic statement.

 For the first time that I can recall, he admitted that the violence in Iraq was not only going to get worse leading up to June 30, but afterward as well. When he was asked whether there will be a major commitment of new foreign troops, he responded; " I don't know ... " How much more refreshing that honest answer was than the usual three paragraphs that describe the latest State Department seven-stage process of consultation premised on four principles, the results of which the government will closely monitor, etc. etc.

 Contrary to conventional wisdom, the American people are not impatient when it comes to world events. We may want our television shows to complete their stories in an hour with a lot of fast-cut action, but we persisted for a half century during the Cold War and for almost a decade in Vietnam (giving up only when President Nixon himself essentially gave up by declaring we were turning it over to the Vietnamese).

 However, we do expect our leaders to get off their high horses and talk practically and frankly about what's going on and what they're trying to do to fix it. President Bush started doing that yesterday. He ought to continue to extemporize in public on a very regular basis: no speeches, no notes, no sugar coating -- and most importantly, no staff preparation. If he will share his blunt thoughts with the public now, they will probably share their votes with him in November.