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WORLD / Middle East
Bush makes?surprise visit to Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-04 06:31
AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq?- US President George W. Bush and his national
security team made a first-hand assessment of the war in Iraq and
prospects for political reconciliation Monday as a showdown nears with
Congress over the US troop buildup.
US President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense
Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in
Anbar Province September 3, 2007. [Reuters]
Bush secretly flew 11 hours to this air base in a remote part of Anbar
province, bypassing Baghdad in a symbolic expression of impatience with
political paralysis in the nation's capital. The gesture underscored the
US belief that the spark for progress may come at the local level.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived ahead of Bush and conferred with
senior US officials, including Gen. David Petraeus and US ambassador to
Iraq Ryan Crocker, before a session with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,
President Jalal Talabani, and other top Iraqi officials from Baghdad.
To a large degree, the setting was the message: Bringing al-Maliki, a
Shiite, to the heart of mostly Sunni Anbar province was intended to show
the administration's war critics that the beleaguered Iraqi leader is
capable of reaching out to Sunnis, who ran the country for years under
Saddam Hussein.
Bush has held up Anbar as an example of recent progress, especially on
the security front, although the province is still economically deprived
and not yet stable enough to turn over to full Iraqi control.
Next week, Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, and Crocker testify
before Congress. Their assessment of the conflict, along with a progress
report the White House must give lawmakers by September 15, will
determine the next chapter of the war.
The United States cannot sustain the troop buildup indefinitely. And with
Democrats calling for withdrawals and a rising US death toll that has
topped 3,700, the president is hardpressed to give al-Maliki much more
time to find a political solution to the fighting.
Bush stopped in Iraq ahead of his visit to Australia for an economic
summit with Asia-Pacific leaders. The trip was a closely held secret for
obvious security reasons, although speculation about the trip arose late
last month when first lady Laura Bush said she was staying home to tend
to a pinched nerve in her neck.
The president, who also went to Iraq at Thanksgiving 2003 and in June
2006, was scheduled to leave for Australia on Monday, but Air Force One
took off from Andrews Air Force Base Sunday evening instead.
He was joined by his top advisers, including National Security Adviser
Stephen Hadley. Joining Gates were Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. William Fallon, the top US commander in the
Middle East. Fallon flew aboard Gates' Air Force plane from Washington.
Pengon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the session at al-Asad would be
the last big gathering of the president's war advisers with Iraqi leaders
before he makes a decision on a way forward in Iraq.
The White House arranged Bush's trip at a pivotal juncture in the Iraq
debate. Some prominent Republican lawmakers have broken with Bush on his
war strategy, but so far, most Republicans have stood with Bush. In
exchange for their loyalty, they want to see substantial progress in Iraq
soon.
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