Bush Makes Surprise Trip To Baghdad
Bush Makes Surprise Trip to Baghdad
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060613/D8I7BOFO0.html
By TERENCE HUNT
Jun 13, 9:22 AM (ET)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - President Bush, seeking to bolster support for Iraq's burgeoning government 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.
"Thanks for having me," Bush responded. They smiled broadly and gave each other a two-handed handshake in the high-domed marble room.
The trip was known only to a handful of aides and a small number of reporters sworn to secrecy because of obvious security threats for Bush and members of his entourage.
