A Thief in the Night
posted by
Wally
11:39 AM
Our fearless leader, the most powerful man in the world, the tough-talking, cowboy strutting, bold and decisive President of the U.S. crept into and out of Iraq like a thief in the night yesterday, without telling anyone. The Iraqi Prime Minister was only given a five-minute warning before the meeting with Bush. So much for being the leader of a sovereign nation.
But with poll numbers barely above freezing, Bush apparently felt it was time for another "Mission Accomplished" moment, dropping in on an official visit to boost morale and show that he means business in setting up Iraq as a free and self-governed nation. Only problem, it's hard to impress people with your commitment to them when nobody knows you're there, when you have to sneak in and out afraid to show your face in public.
You could hardly call the trip a state visit. Unannounced, Air Force One touched down at an airport closed by American edict, the President was whisked away on American equipment, American guns ready to blaze, to an American village in the center of the capital, secured by American soldiers, who closed bridges and barricaded streets.
LINK In other words, he invaded Iraqi airspace unannounced, took over a large contingent of the Iraqi security force (i.e. our troops), sauntered in and out of the country with less warning than if he was flying into Des Moines (he's have to alert air traffic control for that), just so he could talk up their new sovereign government. I assume that I'm not the only one who sees the irony in this.
While this was a big surprise to almost everyone, it was not a complete surprise visit. In fact, this trip had been in the works for a month. Knowing that a good photo-op is better than a good policy, Bush had been very secretly planning this for some time. 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.
Apart from Cheney, the only Cabinet members notified in advance were Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
LINK Is our fearless leader really that paranoid that he has to take this many precautions to keep people from knowing about an official state visit? Is this the actions of a leader, or a coward? Is he really that afraid of the "free and democratically elected government" he set up in Iraq? How can he be that afraid, and still proclaim how great things are going over there? Does anybody still believe him?
Apparently, according to this article, the Iraqis don't. The Sunnis see it as a political stunt, and even the Shia know what the trip is really all about. "This visit carries a lot of meanings, but this visit means nothing to the Iraqi street. There will never be any benefits from such a visit and the only one to benefit from this visit is Bush himself and his troops here, not the Iraqi people," said Hassan al-Robaie, a lawmaker loyal to al-Sadr Our President - sneaking in and out like a burglar. Kinda makes you proud, doesn't it?
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