Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Baghdad

Update: Awesome video of Bush talking to the troops.

Via AP

President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday to meet newly named Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and discuss the next steps in the troubled, three-year-old war.

It was a dramatic move by Bush, traveling to violence-rattled Baghdad less than a week after the death of terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a bombing attack. The president was expected to be in Baghdad a little more than five hours.

The trip was known only to a handful of aides and a small number of reporters sworn to secrecy because of obvious security threats for Bush and members of his entourage.

Landing at Baghdad airport, Bush transferred to a helicopter for a six-minute ride into the heavily fortified Green Zone. White House officials said the helicopter ride posed the greatest risk for the president.

Bush was greeted by another day of violence in Iraq _ dozens of people were killed or wounded Tuesday in explosions in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, and eight bodies were found in western Baghdad. Al-Maliki pledged “no mercy” in a crackdown against insurgents.

It was Bush’s second trip to Baghdad in less than three years. He visited American troops at Thanksgiving, 2003, in a visit confined to the airport and limited to several hours. That trip also was kept secret.

Bush flew here secretly from talks at Camp David, Md., with senior national security advisers who gathered Monday to review how to bolster Iraq’s fledgling government and its capacity to handle the country’s defense.

In Baghdad, Bush was to meet with al-Maliki and senior members of his Cabinet. White House officials said the president wanted to meet face- to-face with the prime minister to size him up and assure him of U.S. support.

He said the message that he wants to send to the Iraqi government is “we stand with you. What you’re doing is important.”

Also see: Stuck on Stupid
Indepundit
Gateway Pundit
Allah Pundit thinks the dramatic move is cool. So do we. God bless the troops.

Oh my! Put your tin foil hats on and go read this pyscho sob story.

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