The most recent briefing was an hourlong secure videoconference on Friday morning, two defense officials said.
Mr. Rumsfeld and General Franks usually speak at least twice a day by telephone or secure videoconference.
Another time, during a secure videoconference, Fadl mentioned that it was snowing outside his window; the Marshals Service severely reprimanded him for the slip.
He heard from Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of forces in Iraq, who participated by secure videoconference from Baghdad, and the departing United States ambassador, Ryan C. Crocker.
From Washington, Vice President Cheney and Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, participated in an hourlong secure videoconference with Mr. Bush and his top aides in China.
During a secure videoconference that took place early this summer, the President told Ryan Crocker, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, that he was thinking of hitting Iranian targets across the border and that the British "were on board".
With Mr. Chen inside the embassy, the administration held a series of meetings in Washington to decide how to manage the crisis — with the State Department leading the effort and the White House overseeing it through frequent secure videoconference calls.
But when Mr. Bernanke called policy makers together for an emergency meeting on Monday night, with regional Fed presidents participating over secure videoconference lines, he embarked on the boldest policy move in years.
After the war council meeting, Mr. Rumsfeld and a handful of the senior-most advisers stay for a secure videoconference session with Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the commander who would lead allied forces against Iraq, or his deputies.
General Petraeus, speaking to Mr. Bush by secure videoconference during a two-hour meeting of the National Security Council, recommended putting off decisions on further troop reductions for a month or two after the departure in July of five extra brigades sent last year to help secure the nation, the officials said.
