"Surprise" visit to Baghdad?

[JohnnyRingo]

The trip was coordinated well in advance by various White House and Pentagon agencies in complete surpisery.

Reporters on Air Force One were forced to surrender their Blackberrys and cell phones to protect the surprise nature of the trip. The fear was that if reporters told their wives where they were going, it would compromise the surprisness of the visit.
Buxh's "War Council" was retained at Camp David until after his arrival to further protect the surprisecy from leaks to the media.

Even the newly installed Prime Minister of Iraq wasn't informed of the surprise appearance until five minutes before he arrived to insure complete surprise.

If Iraq was a truly dangerous place all this may have had to been done "secretly" instead of the pleasant "surprise" that it turned out to be.

[liberal N proud]

1. You know that whole term "War Council" has been bothering me

What the hell are they getting at "WAR Council?"

Sounds like they are planning more wars to me.

WAR Council, jeezzzz

[rzemanfl]

2. So the asshat exposes our airplane to hostile fire so he can

show off?

[TriSec]

3. Globe says they were planning for a month...

Bush visit required a month of planning

The president's surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday, a sequel to an earlier one on Thanksgiving 2003, capped about a month of secretive planning.

Like the 2003 visit, this trip brought in "a very, very close circle of people" that included only a half-dozen of Bush's closest aides, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said. It also had the White House duping many others along the way, from some of the U.S. government's most senior officials, to reporters, the American public and even the Iraqi prime minister.

The planning began after Bush directed his staff that he wanted to travel to Baghdad as soon as new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki filled the final positions in his government. With that completed last Thursday, the wheels were set in motion for the trip to take place.

A high-profile two-day meeting on Iraq at Camp David was set up to conceal the real plan and provide a cover story to bring al-Maliki and his ministers to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. They were told they were needed there, at a former palace of deposed leader Saddam Hussein that now serves as the U.S. Embassy's quarters, to participate in a videoconference linking them with Bush and his advisers at Camp David.

do the clicky for more.

[global1]

4. So Instead Of Fitzmas We Get Another Thanksgiving Turkey...nt

[JohnnyRingo]

7. And all were sworn to absolute "surprisecy"

The only "surprise" here is that a compliant media once again reads from the script of a 36% president.

Can someone get CNN & NBC a dictionary?
Just once today, I'd like to hear that it was a secret visit planned in complete secrecy to protect our failure of a president from the certain disaster that would have resulted from such a stunt if his visit was anticipated.

The media makes it sound like Buxh jumped out from behind a door with a cake and party hat just to "surprise" the new govt there.
Like he's some kind of goddam prankster or something.

[chill_wind]

9. Beautifully stated

So essentially the very small, exclusive inside-track of the inside-track press enclave (wonder who all exactly made the A-list) saw themselves as kidnapped and taken for a ride, it almost sounds like.

What if one day junior threw a photo-op costume party and-- nobody came.

But I dream. Access is everything, apparantly, even if only to write long tedious much-ado reports about nothing much except the 109-degree weather in Iraq today and how hot it was for the aides in their heavy wool suits and flak jackets and helmuts.

At least they admit in one of the msnbc pieces that this was greatly meant for our own domestic consumption...

I'll pass.

[stubtoe]

5. I just wish * would STAY there.

Take a nice long vacation in the Green Zone, George.

[tanyev]

6. George Bush is the best photo-op president this country has ever had.

[xxqqqzme]

8. ain't that the truth!

surprise my ass. It was a photo op for a poll numbers. That is the ONLY reason for this surprise!