WAPO on bush trip

[frogcycle]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300333.html?nav=rss_world/mideast

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3 -- President Bush made a surprise visit to this isolated and well fortified air field in Anbar province Monday to meet with top U.S. and Iraqi officials and to showcase what he calls one of the successes of his decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Iraq.

Bush slipped out of a side door of the White House Sunday for the furtive trip that was aimed at bolstering his position for not drawing down troops from Iraq. During six hours on the ground here, the president met with Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and other military commanders and Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, before holding a session with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and members of his central government.

- snip -

"The president felt this is something he had to do in order to put himself in a position to make some important decisions," National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley said of the visit.

- snip -

Despite the mixed reports, Bush has argued that Anbar is an example of the kind of progress that could be replicated elsewhere if the United States continues its current strategy. Aides said he intended his visit here to underscore that point.

"There is no substitute for that kind of first-hand experience and seeing directly for yourself and talking directly . . . not only to national leaders but provincial leaders," presidential counselor Ed Gillespie told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I think the information that he gets here, hopefully, will be a contribution to the discussion that we will have" later this month.

This is damned scary.

All he did was a touch-and-go in a heavily fortified airbase in the middle of nowhere. But now he will say when he announces those "important decisions" that he has been there personally, knows what nobody else does, and probably in the back of his mind will think Yahweh whispered to him while he was standing on the tarmac.

Fucker is 100% certifiable.

Brace yourselves.

[Olney Blue]

1. The war is not going to end. The Congress is going to give 50 billion.

I am feeling very depressed today.

[rocktivity]

15. Propaganda

They've been running this theme for the past two weeks. It's the same inevitability game they ran on us to get us in this mess.

[rocktivity]

2. "Bush slipped out of a side door of the White House

...for the furtive trip that was aimed at bolstering his position for not drawing down troops from Iraq."

Well, that pretty much says it all, doesn't it--he had to SNEAK INTO IRAQ in order to prove that the surge is working!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Olney Blue]

6. He didn't even inform the Iraqi leaders. That says it all.

[rodeodance]

7. some cspan callers were have fun today----The leader of a great country sneaky

out doors, in and out countries. afraid to go to Baghdad. etc.

[grasswire]

3. how does this "bolster his position"?

How does going there for a brief visit make ANY difference in ANYTHING??

[BrklynLiberal]

5. It will be an interesting test of the intelligence of the public to see if this actually does

affect the disapproval rating of prez Shit-for-Brains.

[pretzel4gore]

12. he's back up to 90 percent in straw poll!

from 28 to 90 percent overnight!
he's now more popular then the Beatles!
the fickle fingers'o'fate fondles the president's nutz (ie the bush voter) and makes em bigger then hell!

[reprobate]

13. 90% with who? I don't think he'd poll that high even among the white house staff.

[pretzel4gore]

14. knee jerk reactionaries...

even 10 perecent of THEM are against bush! lol

[The Roux Comes First]

20. That would make him more popular than Jesus Christ, no? (nfm)

[pretzel4gore]

22. well, the Btles beat out our Lord

and if Geeb (that's john ellis bush, or 'jeb's, brother) beats out the Btles, then logic presumes_______!
:hide:

[BrklynLiberal]

4. Will ANY of the MSM report this trip for what it really was...? It is comparable to landing on that

battleship and hoisting the "Mission Accomplished" banner.
Same bullshit, different place.

[frogcycle]

8. agreed

except it was a carrier

[BrklynLiberal]

9. ooops. Sorry for the mis-identification.

I will not correct it, as you have.
:hi:

[The Roux Comes First]

21. Actually probably even more trivial than that fake landing . . .

given that they didn't have to redirect an aircraft carrier and presumably delay home arrival of the crew.

This time they couldn't even be bothered to come up with a banner ("surge has been surged"?!?!?)

[havocmom]

10. Within weeks of the invasion, what, 7 BILLION dollars in cash went missing?

That is quite a slush fund for who knows what. Every time a high ranking official in the close junta inner circle goes over there, I have to wonder about them picking up a bunch of cash. Gotta have someone big enough to justify a lotta security.

Gonzo went over and then resigned pretty damned soon after his trip. Picked up his severance pay? Trying to recall the time frame between Rummy's last surprise visit and his resignation.

And how many people can they keep bribing from that slush fund? The fund has probably been growing too.

Very Impudent Pigs visiting Iraq always makes me suspecious of what is comin down the pike soon after.

Didn't that well versed anonymous poster at CREW say something about another big resignation coming up soon?

:popcorn:

[partylessinOhio]

11. Ha! Did you see when Fox hurriedly showed a video tape they had just

received (and obviously had not reviewed in advance) where a soldier was making statements about the troops concerns about their rotations to the pResident? Before the soldier got to his conclusion or his question if he asked one, FOX abruptly cut back to that fierce looking news hen. Did the tape get too close to showing the truth in Iraq and how brutal the Bush/War has been for our troops?

:woohoo: It seems * got a earful, of course the media won't report it.

[underpants]

16. Of course he could have visited a market in Indiana

you know and shook hands with working men and women...nah too much of a chance of someone saying something that would hurt his feelings.

[Democrats_win]

17. Surge based on Anbar strategy of "take & hold." Why didn't he go before start of Surge?

The whole point of the surge in Baghdad was to follow the example that apparently worked in Anbar: take an area and hold it.

So why didn't he visit Anbar before he started the surge to demonstrate that he understood what was going on there? Supposedly, Anbar was "secure" before the Surge began. So, today, he should have visited Baghdad to draw conclusions about the Surge.

Does the fact he didn't visit Baghdad show that the Surge is failing? Isn't that the real conclusion here?

[frogcycle]

18. yes

the "surge" has nothing whatsoever to do with Anbar. What is working in Anbar is bribing tribal leaders to stop shooting us and shoot arabs instead.

The "surge" is in Baghdad, where some aspects of it are being effective militarily but where it is not serving its purpose politically - thus - not working

[frogcycle]

19. and there is NO WAY AF1 could land/take off @ Baghdad Int'l

It has a lot of sophisticated defenses, but the corkscrew approach they use would not be feasible for a 747. So he'd have had to use something else, and there is NO WAY they'd do that either. No, they found a place in hte desert that he could have a photo op - be able to say "I've been on the ground in Iraq - just last week - I'm the decider - I decided"

[Netbeavis]

23. besides ask those 3 Senators in the C-130 who got an RPG

fired at them and see if they think flying into "The Green Zone" was such a good idea.