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Bush makes a surprise visit to Iraq
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 03 - 09 - 2007

ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, September 03, SPA -- U.S. President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday, using the war zone as a backdrop to argue his case that the buildup of
U.S. troops is helping stabilizing the nation.
Bush secretly flew 11 hours to Iraq as a showdown nears
with Congress over whether his decision in January to order
30,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq is working.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived ahead of Bush, and
convened a meeting with the country's top political leaders
to highlight Bush administration hopes for prodding Iraq
into a «bottom-up» approach to national reconciliation.
Gates conferred with senior U.S. officials, including Gen.
David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker ,
before opening a session with Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, and other top Iraqi
officials from Baghdad.
Bush and his national security team flew directly to this
air base in a remote part of Anbar province, bypassing
Baghdad in a symbolic expression of impatience with
political paralysis in the nation's capital. The gesture
underscored the U.S. belief that the spark for progress may
come at the local level.
Next week, Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and
Crocker, testify before Congress. Their assessment of the
conflict, along with a progress report the White House must
give lawmakers by Sept. 15, will determine the next chapter
of the war, the Associated Press reported.


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