Yogjakarta, Indonesia ? Last month on a brief visit here, President Bush had a rare opportunity to meet face to face with a trio of Indonesian Muslim leaders and hear what I have been hearing for months — that even our best friends are deeply unhappy with American foreign policy.

The president, according to accounts, was “puzzled,” even stunned by what he heard. The meeting took place behind closed doors, extending from a planned half hour to almost an hour, with the three Muslims joined by leaders from Indonesia’s Hindu and Christian communities.

Indonesians are widely known for being polite and indirect, sometimes to a fault. But they did not hesitate to give the world’s most powerful man an earful. The scene behind those doors was described to me in detail by two of the Muslim participants who also — for the first time — provided the text of their remarks to Bush.

These men are no friends of Osama bin Laden. They are American-educated scholars who embrace a tolerant vision of Islamic belief. They reject conversion of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, into an Islamic state or the imposition of Islamic law. They condemn terrorism and strongly support democratic values.

But when it comes to U.S. foreign policy, these moderates share the sentiments of their radical Muslim rivals. They see a failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a war on terror that seems to indiscriminately blame all Muslims for the sins of a few, and, most of all, a misguided invasion of Iraq.

The toughest words came from Syafii Maarif, a University of Chicago graduate. Maarif heads Muhammadiyah, a Muslim civic organization that commands some 30 million followers here, running schools, hospitals and charities throughout this vast Southeast Asian nation. Talking in his spare office in this central Java city, he spoke softly but with an edge of anger about what he believes is a foreign policy that “is too pro-Israeli.”

In the meeting with Bush, Maarif began by arguing that as long as the Israel-Palestine conflict persists, “it would be difficult for us and for you to eradicate the phenomenon of terrorism.” Indonesian Muslims, he said, back the creation of “an independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state by 2005,” the deadline set by the moribund, U.S.-backed “road map” to peace.

When it comes to terrorists, “believe me, Mr. President when I say, I am your friend and that we are on the same boat with you, Mr. President,” Maarif told Bush.

But all three Muslim leaders also raised questions about the war on terrorism. They worried that the United States exaggerates the importance of “tiny fringe groups” of radicals and identifies terrorists with all of Islam.

Most of all, they argued politely but strenuously that war in Iraq was unjustified, carried out without international support, damaging to America’s image in the world and to those who are its friends.

“The U.S. has resorted to war rather than taking peaceful means to resolve differences and conflicts,” Azyumardi Azra, rector of the State Islamic University in Jakarta, told Bush.

“The war policy of your administration has alienated the proponents of democracy in this country. In fact many of the skeptics asked me during the war in Iraq — where is your democracy now? They referred of course to American democracy that in many ways is a model for Indonesian democracy. We do hope that the U.S. administration does not implement policies that make Indonesians lose their belief in democracy.”

The same themes were sounded by the third Muslim leader, Hasyim Muzadi, who heads the largest Islamic organization in this country with a membership of 40 million. According to Azra, “Muzadi said that ‘in the beginning the U.S. said the military campaign in Iraq was to liberate the people from Saddam Hussein. But Saddam Hussein is gone and the U.S. still occupies Iraq. You should pull American troops as soon as possible and return Iraqi sovereignty to the Iraq people.”‘

While the president seemed surprised to hear these views, the Muslim leaders were also impressed by his response. “He was eager to listen to us,” said Maarif. “Mr. Bush was appreciative of our frankness. It rather surprised me.”

And perhaps, in some small way, this rare encounter with voices from outside the White House bubble had an impact. Two weeks later the president suddenly changed course in Iraq and ordered a speed-up of the turnover into Iraqi hands.