Bush drops in on new Iraqi PM in Baghdad

[thedrifter]

Jun 13, 10:22 AM EDT
Bush drops in on new Iraqi PM in Baghdad

By TERENCE HUNT
AP White House Correspondent

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- President Bush met newly named Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss next steps in the troubled three-year-old war. The dramatic move came as Bush sought to bolster support for Iraq's fledgling government and U.S. war policy at home.

Bush traveled to violence-rattled Baghdad less than a week after a U.S. air strike killed terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The president was expected to be in Baghdad a little more than five hours.

Bush met with al-Maliki in the heavily fortified green zone at a palace once used by Saddam Hussein but which now serves temporarily as the U.S. Embassy.

"Good to see you," exclaimed al-Maliki, who didn't know Bush was in Baghdad until five minutes before they met.

"Thanks for having me," Bush responded. They smiled broadly and shook hands vigorously in the high-domed marble room.

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

"Obviously, when you're entering a situation where the enemy is so active we have to be extra cautious," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said.

The prime minister had been invited to the embassy on the pretense of taking part in a video conference with Bush, supposedly at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. The videoconference was going on as scheduled, but with Bush to appear alongside al-Maliki.

Bush's secret trip came six days after the death of al-Zarqawi. The administration hoped the elimination of the al-Qaida leader and the completion of al-Maliki's cabinet would make war-weary Americans look at Iraq in a more positive light.

Aside from al-Maliki and his cabinet, Bush was to see Jalal Talibani, Iraq's largely ceremonial president. Bush also was to meet with the speaker of the parliament, national political leaders and U.S. troops.

Air Force One landed in hazy daylight at Baghdad Airport, where the temperature was above 100 degrees. Bush transferred to a helicopter for the six-minute ride to the green zone.

It was Bush's second trip to Baghdad in less than three years. He met with American troops at Thanksgiving 2003 in a visit confined to the airport and limited to several hours after dark. That trip was kept secret until Bush was safely in the air on the way home.

There are about 132,000 American forces in Iraq, and Bush faces increasing pressure to begin troop withdrawals. Bush says cutbacks depend on Iraq's ability to provide for its own security.

Bartlett said the trip had been in the works for several weeks but was delayed until al-Maliki filled out his cabinet with his national security team last week.

"We are committed to the success of this new government and the Maliki plan that he is outlining," said Bartlett, who briefed reporters aboard Air Force One.

Al-Maliki has won U.S. admiration by promising to crack down on militias and sectarian violence, promote national reconciliation, accelerate reconstruction efforts and restore essential services such as electricity.

Bush's meeting at Camp David was part of a ruse to conceal his Baghdad trip and a cover story to bring al-Maliki and his cabinet to the green zone.

Secrecy aside, the meeting was intended to strengthen ties between the Bush administration and al-Maliki's ministries, Bartlett said.

Most of Bush's aides had expected the president to be at the table with them for the videoconference. Instead, they were seeing him from Baghdad. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Vice President Dick Cheney were in on the secret.

Accompanying Bush on the trip were National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, Deputy Chief of staff Joe Hagin, press secretary Tony Snow, Bartlett and a few others.

First lady Laura Bush announced Bush's trip to a surprised crowd assembled in Villanova, Pa., for a fundraiser for Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. She told the GOP donors she is "very thrilled and very proud" of her husband.

Tuesday's trip came as Bush struggled for solid footing for his presidency, rocked by the Iraq war and other problems. About 2,500 members of the military have died since the war began in March 2003.

Was anxiety has been the driving force behind Bush's plunge in the polls and a cause of Republican distress about holding control of Congress in the November mid-tem elections.

Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq has dipped to 33 percent, a new low, and his overall job approval rating was 35 percent in a new AP-Ipsos Poll.

The poll, taken last week before the announcement of the death of al-Zarqawi, found that 59 percent of adults said the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq - the highest level yet in AP-Ipsos polling. It also found that more than half - 54 percent - said it's unlikely that a stable democratic government will be established in Iraq - also a new high.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

In Baghdad, Bush Pledges Support to Iraqi Leader
Visit Aimed at Buttressing Newly Formed Government


By Jonathan Finer and Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 14, 2006; A01


BAGHDAD, June 13 -- President Bush told Iraq's prime minister and his cabinet Tuesday that "we'll keep our commitment" not to withdraw troops from the country until the new government is capable of defending itself.

During an unannounced visit to Baghdad aimed at buttressing the newly formed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush pledged his support for the country's new leader and declared that "the fate of the Iraqi people is in their hands, and our job is to help them succeed."

Bush, making his first appearance here since serving Thanksgiving turkey to U.S. troops in 2003, greeted Maliki under the cupola of a marble-walled chamber in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, now serving as the U.S. Embassy. Afterward, the president told reporters that Iraq's leaders were "deeply concerned that the stability provided by the coalition forces will be removed and there'll be a vacuum. And they're concerned about what goes into the vacuum, and I can understand that concern."

"I assured them that we'll keep our commitment," Bush said during his flight home. "I also made it clear to them that in order for us to keep our commitment and be successful, they themselves have to do some hard things. They themselves have to set an agenda. They themselves have to get some things accomplished."

The visit, shrouded in such secrecy that much of Bush's Cabinet and senior White House staff did not know about it, came as there are mounting U.S. and Iraqi military operations aimed at further disrupting Iraq's insurgency, and defiant promises from insurgents of more violence after the killing last week of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett told reporters on the 11-hour flight to Baghdad from Andrews Air Force Base that Bush had planned the trip for months with a "very, very close circle" of about six White House staff members.

Administration officials went to extraordinary lengths to keep their plans secret, including issuing a false press statement Monday night saying the president would be having a press availability in the Rose Garden on Tuesday. White House communications director Nicolle Wallace said: "Nothing was done with the goal of duping anyone. . . . The purpose of the secrecy was security."

Arriving along with several staff members just after 4 p.m., Bush spent about five hours in Iraq's fortified Green Zone -- the only place he visited besides Baghdad's international airport. Joined by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., he met first with Maliki and his cabinet, which was completed last week after months of wrangling, and later with about 400 American troops and civilian workers in the palace's sprawling cafeteria.

The president wanted to meet face-to-face with Maliki to offer support and get a better sense of his personality and priorities, Bartlett said. Relations between the Iraqi government and U.S. officials in Iraq had been strained in recent weeks by allegations that Marines in the western city of Haditha killed 24 unarmed civilians, after which the Iraqi prime minister called for more clearly defined rules regarding the use of force by foreign troops.

"Good to see you," said Maliki, who had arrived expecting a videoconference with Bush speaking from Camp David and learned the president was in Baghdad only minutes before he entered the room.

"Thank you for having me," Bush replied, as the two men shook hands and beamed for cameras.

"I appreciate that you recognize the fact that the future of your country is in your hands," Bush said during a second photo session with Maliki, a member of a leading Shiite Muslim religious party who worked for months to build a cabinet that represents each of Iraq's main factions.

During brief and somewhat subdued remarks, the prime minister responded: "God willing, all of the suffering will be over, and all of the soldiers will be able to return to their countries with our gratitude for what they have offered."

Bush said later that "I came away with a very positive impression" of Maliki. "He was a serious-minded fellow who recognized that there had to be progress in order for the Iraqi people to believe the unity government will make a difference in their lives."

An adviser to Maliki, Adnan Ali al-Kadhimi, said Bush's visit "showed that after the killing of Zarqawi, the Americans are not just going to rest, and that he is still in touch with Iraq."

But Sahib al-Amery, a political ally of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who issues frequent calls for the United States to withdraw from Iraq, called Bush "an unwelcome guest."

"He is the president of a country which is occupying our country," Amery said in a telephone interview from the southern city of Najaf.

Later, in a more raucous session with U.S. soldiers just before he departed, Bush received long ovations when he referred to two vanquished adversaries in the ongoing conflict: Hussein, the deposed Iraqi president who is standing trial about a mile from where Bush spoke, and Zarqawi, who was killed last Wednesday by two 500-pound bombs dropped by a U.S. warplane.

"Our military will continue to hunt people like Mr. Zarqawi and bring them to justice," he said, as the crowd cheered wildly for 30 seconds or more and waved hats before him. Hussein, he said, was "a selfish, brutal leader."

"Your sacrifice is noble. Your sacrifice is important," he told the soldiers, adding that he was aware of the strain that their service in Iraq placed on families. "I truly believe the work that you are doing is laying the foundations of peace for generations to come."

The Bush trip, the latest element of an unfolding presidential effort to regain the initiative in Iraq, was timed to the completion of Maliki's government but received a boost with the killing of Zarqawi, the most wanted leader of the insurgency.

Bush administration officials said that high-level discussions at Camp David on Monday and Tuesday dealt with potential initiatives to help the Iraqis develop better security for Baghdad, improve electricity service, rebuild the agricultural sector and solicit more help from Iraq's neighbors. But other than more technical assistance from U.S. Cabinet agencies, officials said they did not anticipate major departures in policy, new funds for reconstruction or troop reductions.

One general officer briefed on the Camp David sessions said no sign emerged of any shift in basic approach. "There were a lot of things affirmed at the meeting," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk on the subject. "We did not get the impression coming out of there that there were any dramatic changes."

Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, who attended the meetings at Camp David, said the group had an extensive discussion about oil and electricity problems, key priorities for the Iraqi government. One idea mentioned by Bush was setting up a fund with some of the country's oil revenue that could be shared with the people, perhaps as the state of Alaska does with its oil revenue, Bodman said.

But Bodman stressed: "The plan has to be the Iraqi plan. . . . The Iraqis are going to be making decisions. It is clear to everybody that the assets represented by the oil . . . are the property of the Iraqi people."

Abramowitz reported from Washington. Staff writers Bradley Graham, Ann Scott Tyson and Charles Babington in Washington and special correspondents Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.

Ellie