First Door on the Left

I cannot begin to tell you how ridiculous and silly this is…

Bush Meets With Iraqi PM in Surprise Trip

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – President Bush, seeking to bolster support for Iraq’s burgeoning goverment and U.S. war policy at home, 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 3-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.

Bush met with al-Maliki in heavily fortified green zone at a palace once used by Saddam Hussein. It 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.

We have a president who has to sneak around like a thief in the night. The leader of the country he is visiting cannot even know he is there until five minutes before they meet. They must meet in the “heavily fortified green zone.”

Tell me again, someone on the right, exactly how we are winning this war.

James Joyner:

This is an incredibly smart move by the President which will help continue the momentum of positive news coming out of Iraq. It’s largely a symbolic gesture but nonetheless will be very important in conveying the commitment of the United States to the new Iraqi government. And if nothing else, this trip will send an important message to the Iraqi people: so long as George Bush is President, the United States will not abandon you.

No, I think an important message to the Iraqi people would have been spending a few days in country with several visits to open-air markets in downtown Baghdad. Most Iraqis will not even know Bush was there until after he is long gone. Sneaking in, spending a few hours in the “heavily fortified” Green Zone, and then sneaking out again is not really sending a very good message.

Cap’n Ed:

This visit shows that Bush has no intention of doing a cut-and-run, and that he’s willing to put himself in the same theater as his soldiers and Marines in order to secure a democratic future in Iraq.

That simply is not a true statement… unless his soldiers and Marines are all well within the walls of the heavily-fortified Green Zone. (They may well be soon.)