WASHINGTON – President Bush made a dramatic surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday to boost the new Iraqi government and assure Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that America’s commitment to a post-Saddam democracy will never falter.
“I have come to not only look you in the eye; I’ve also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it will keep its word,” Bush told a stunned Maliki, who was informed of Bush’s secret visit only when the president’s helicopter landed right outside his office in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.
Bush’s whirlwind, high-wire visit to Baghdad lasted six hours and came after a James Bond-like escape from a two-day war summit set up at the Camp David retreat as a ruse to get the president out of town.
It was his first visit to Iraq since he spent Thanksgiving with U.S. troops in November 2003.
The cloak-and-dagger journey came less than a week after terror master Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda thug responsible for much of the post-war carnage in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. airstrike, handing U.S. troops and the Bush administration their biggest victory since Saddam’s capture.
“I’ve come today to personally show our nation’s commitment to a free Iraq,” Bush later told troops at the U.S. Embassy who roared their approval.
“My message to the Iraqi people is this: seize the moment, seize the opportunity to develop a government of and by and for the people. I come away from here believing that the will is strong,” he said.
“And our job is to help them succeed and we will,” he added.
Bush’s secret trip was planned a month in advance by a “very, very close circle of people” at the White House – and was such a surprise that a handful of Cabinet secretaries was served the news with their morning breakfast yesterday at the presidential retreat.
The president, who had expressed a desire to visit Iraq sometime after a new Iraqi cabinet was selected, had been at a Camp David war summit with close aides and was scheduled to hold a video teleconference with Maliki that morning.
But aides said he pulled off his escape with a sly white lie about sleepiness during an after-dinner chat with his war council Monday, declaring at 7:45 p.m. that he was “losing altitude” and wanted to go to bed and read before falling asleep.
By the time everyone cleared the room at around 8 p.m., Bush had already slipped outside unnoticed and hopped aboard a nondescript military chopper – eschewing his customary, and recognizable, green and white Marine One – and was on his way to Andrews Air Force Base to catch a ride on Air Force One.
Reporters assigned to travel with the president on the trip were quietly told about it in clandestine rendezvous with White House staffers at coffee houses and restaurants in the Washington area 24 hours in advance – and they were sworn to tell no one, not even their spouses.
At go-time, reporters gathered at a suburban Virginia hotel, surrendered their cellphones and BlackBerrys to White House aides, and took back roads to the suburban Maryland Air Force base.
To keep the secret, Air Force One was tucked out of view near its hangar, instead of its prominent runway spot customary on Bush’s other official trips.
As reporters settled into seats at the back of the plane, Bush bounded up a rear staircase wearing a blue baseball cap and shouted to the press: “The POTUS is on board!” – the acronym for President of the United States.
Moments later, the presidential 747 soared into the night sky at 9:07 p.m., with rear-cabin TVs tuned to the Washington Nationals-Colorado Rockies game.
Eleven hours later – within a minute exactly – Bush touched down in war-torn Baghdad after a steep, spiraling approach to avoid being an easy target.
He shuffled to a waiting Nighthawk military helicopter and was inside Baghdad’s Green Zone in minutes.
Maliki and his top lieutenants – who arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad expecting to confer with Bush via video – weren’t told the commander-in-chief was in town until his chopper had safely landed inside the heavily guarded Green Zone.
Bush and Maliki, beaming at the symbolism of the moment, shook hands in front of Saddam’s former Republican Palace, now the U.S. Embassy.
“Good to see you,” a still-startled Maliki said.
“Thanks for having me,” a smiling Bush replied.
At a meeting with the new Iraqi Cabinet, Bush stressed he was prepared to do whatever is necessary to help the Iraqi government recover from the war and rebuild so it can stand up for itself, eventually, without American assistance.
“I have expressed our country’s desire to work with you, but I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of your country is in your hands,” Bush said.
“The decisions you and your Cabinet make will be a determinant as to whether or not a country succeeds that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself,” he added.
The president also told Maliki he was “impressed by the strength of your character and your desire to succeed and I am impressed by your strategy.”
Maliki said he hoped the 139,000 American troops would soon be able to withdraw – but neither he nor Bush offered any details or a timetable.
Maliki also said Iraq has “no choice to succeed and we will defeat terrorism.”
Before wrapping up his trip, Bush addressed U.S. troops to thank them for their long and tough service. He drew the biggest cheer when he mentioned the death of Zarqawi.
“Our military will stay on the offense. We will continue to hunt down people like Zarqawi and bring them to justice.”
BUSH VISITS BAGHDAD
MONDAY
7:45 P.M. Camp David – Bush cuts off a meeting with his war Cabinet, claiming he’s “losing altitude” and says he’s going to bed.
8:00 P.M. Camp David – Meeting concludes. Bush is already aloft in a military chopper headed for Andrews Air Force Base.
9:07 P.M. Andrews Air Force Base – Bush, aboard Air Force One, lifts off for Baghdad.
TUESDAY
8:08 A.M. Baghdad (4:08 p.m. local time) – Air Force One lands after a steep descent into Baghdad airport.
8:24 A.M. Baghdad (4:24 p.m. local time) – Bush departs on a Nighthawk military chopper – wearing no extra body armor – for flight into Baghdad’s Green Zone.
8:32 A.M. Baghdad (4:32 p.m. local time) – Bush’s helicopter arrives safely in the Green Zone. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is told Bush is in the country and waiting to meet with him.
8:43 A.M. Baghdad (4:43 p.m. local time) – Bush is swept into a private room at the U.S. Embassy for face-to-face meeting with Maliki.
9:10 A.M. Camp David – U.S. reporters are alerted that Bush is in Baghdad.
1:15 A.M. Baghdad (9:15 p.m. local) – Bush departs Baghdad International Airport.
WEDNESDAY
1:45 A.M. (Estimated) Washington – Air Force One scheduled to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base
2:00 A.M. (Estimated) Washington – Bush scheduled to arrive at the South Lawn of the White House aboard Marine One helicopter.