Bush Visits Iraq
04 September 2007 7:44 am by Taylor Marsh
Here’s the caption under the photo: President Bush, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after a news conference during a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq.
Eight hours in Iraq. Wonder if he had time to meet up with Katie Couric?
President Bush made a surprise eight-hour visit to Iraq on Monday, emphasizing
security gains, sectarian reconciliation and the possibility of a troop withdrawal,
thus embracing and pre-empting this month’s crucial Congressional hearings
on his Iraq strategy.(snip)
After talks with Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq,
and Ryan C. Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Bush said that they “tell
me that if the kind of success we are now seeing here continues it will be
possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.”Mr. Bush did not say how large a troop withdrawal was possible. … ..
A “large troop withdrawal” is possible, but I wonder when? Hmmm. From the man’s own mouth:
“Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military
commanders on the conditions on the ground — not a nervous reaction
by Washington politicians to poll results in the media,” Mr. Bush told
a gathering of American troops, who responded with a rousing cheer. “In
other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from
a position of strength and success, not from a position of fear and failure.
To do otherwise would embolden our enemies and make it more likely that they
would attack us at home.”
In other words, Bush will draw down on his own time so that it looks
and sounds like his own separate idea. You know, like Gonzo resigning.
Oh, and as far as this trip to Iraq being a “surprise visit,” my
good friend James Boyce has it right. (He’s the guy who treated me to the Cubs
game during YearlyKos.) It was nothing but a photo op. Wake up and smell more
presidential propaganda.
One thing Bush isn’t talking about is “Baghdad’s New Owners,” the latest piece from
Newsweek. There’s a reason why.
