The White House did not know because the media did not tell him. The media did not know because there was no ideological propaganda value in covering anything with respect to Iraq. The Iraq-as-disaster meme went moot when Bush left office.
Other than blaming everything and anything on Bush when the need arose, there was no more need to parade IEDs, suicide bombings, uprisings and the like before the American public. Obama was in charge so all is bright.