June 13, 2006
All Hail
June 13, 2006:
Bush Flies to Baghdad to Back Iraqi Leader
By JOHN F. BURNS and CHRISTINE HAUSER
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 13 — After a secretive overnight flight to Baghdad, President Bush held his first direct talks with Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki today, offering a dramatic show of support to the new government while driving home the message that the country's future is in Iraqi hands.Mr. Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad, which was kept secret from some of his aides as well as from Mr. Maliki himself, followed the killing last week of the most-wanted terrorist in the country, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, although the trip had been planned before that.
White House Counselor Dan Bartlett said that Mr. Bush had wanted to come to Iraq as soon as the final positions in Mr. Maliki's government — the interior and defense ministers — were chosen.
It is President Bush's first trip to Iraq since Nov. 2003, when he joined American troops for Thanksgiving dinner and thanked them for standing up against the "band of thugs and assassins" they are fighting in Iraq. His visit today, expected to last about five hours, came after a string of bombings in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 20 people in violence that surged after the killing of Mr. Zarqawi and the naming of his successor.
Mr. Maliki, who has vowed to crush the insurgency, announced several details today of a security plan for Baghdad.
Heavy security was deployed in the Green Zone. Hundreds of Americans working at the Republican Palace, where Mr. Maliki greeted Mr. Bush, had been given the afternoon off. Military forces were posted in armored combat vehicles as Mr. Bush arrived at the blue-domed palace.
CNN reports that al-Maliki was given five minutes notice of Bush's "visit." When the emperor of the planet demands your presence before the throne, I guess you just comply and drop everything. This is the wonderful "democracy" we've bequethed to the Iraqi people.
Posted by Melanie at June 13, 2006 12:22 PM | TrackBackYou REALLY are just plain out of your gourd.
Because of the possibility of "leaks" (some would call it "treason") in order to insure the safety of POTUS by flying into a hot zone; you complain.
The fact of the matter is, no matter what this guy does, you FIND a reason to lather and scream.
Where’s the Victory in Eye-rack parade; the motorcade with al-Maliki through downtown Baghdad proclaiming our great accomplishment? The Emperor of the free world, the Field Marshal of the most powerful military on the planet, the Great Decider fresh from his War Strategy circle-jerk at Camp David has to swoop in under cover of darkness, unannounced even to the Prime Minister, like a whimpering, cornered mouse for a full five hours of consultation and photo-ops.
This is just another Rovian publicity stunt for Commander Empty Flight Suit and the Bu$hCo war cabal. The situation on the ground in Eye-rack will continue to deteriorate and eventually Sunni's and Shiite's will decide to join forces to get rid of us and settle their differences after we're gone. Or, peace could amazingly break out and the insurgent's will go around placing flowers in the gun barrels of our troops. Which is more likely to happen?
The "emperor of the planet." Right.
You have a way with words.
Tom;
The problem isn't that Bush is being secretive over his preparations regarding visiting Iraq.
It's that he and his staff have NEVER, EVER considered the need to consider the SAME amount of meticulous effort into determining whether this war was necessary, how to conduct it if necessary, what type of society we were introducing ourselves to and how to deal with it, how to improve infrastructure to minimize social problems after formal hostilites were completed, the possibility that insurgency could occur and how to pre-empt or control it, and how to best extricate ourselves from the country formal hostilities were completed.
In short - we get pissed beyond words our alleged leadership spends the time needed to cover their ass, and get irritated (or worse) when asked why they haven't covered those that must follow them.
And if you don't get THAT point, Tom, you haven't been paying attention either.
