Again no need for a "visit" to Iraq....sneaking in unannounced, then huddled inside the Green Zone for most of his time in Iraq. The reporting of it would only make Obama look weak and impotent, like:
Quote:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1
Cheney makes surprise visit to Iraq
Mar 17 04:25 AM US/Eastern
US Vice President Dick Cheney swept into Baghdad on an unannounced visit Monday, looking to highlight security gains and promote elusive political progress days before the war enters its sixth year....
....The unheralded visit, shrouded in secrecy and blanketed with security, came as Cheney opened a nine-day visit to the Middle East and beyond,
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/30645.html
....Cheney spent Monday in a tightly choreographed hopscotch, moving at least six times for high-level meetings. In the fortress-like Green Zone compound.....
...Traveling under military guard along roads that had been swept for bombs and were lined with security forces, Cheney ventured a mile or so outside the Green Zone to call on Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Abdelaziz al Hakim,.....
|
Quote:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/...n3941689.shtml
McCain Makes Unannounced Trip To Iraq
BAGHDAD, March 16, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(CBS/AP) Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for a visit with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials.....
....Further details of McCain's visit, which had been anticipated, were not being released for security reasons, the embassy said.....
...McCain was combative toward reporters' questions in the heavily guarded Green Zone, and responded testily to a question about his comment that it was safe to walk some Baghdad streets. He later acknowledged traveling with armed U.S. military escorts....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...aq-797144.html
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
...With their heavy security and meetings with Iraqis mostly confined to the Green Zone, it would scarcely have been evident to either American politician that the Iraqi capital is divided into hostile townships of Sunni and Shia. The top US commander General David Petraeus complained last week that security gains had not been matched "by sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation"......
|
Quote:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/29212.html
Visit by Iran's president shows depth of Iraq's divisions
By Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Sunday, March 2, 2008
BAGHDAD — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday became the first Iranian head of state to visit Iraq in three decades and immediately became the focus of demonstrations that underscored Iraq's sectarian split....
....Meanwhile, Iraq's Shiite ruling elite, many of whom had been taken refuge during Saddam Hussein's time in Shiite Iran, listened to Ahmadinejad without need of translation into Arabic, clearly comfortable hearing his Farsi......
....No U.S. soldiers were in sight near Talabani's home and security was provided by Kurdish soldiers known as the peshmerga......
......Last week, 500 people demonstrated against the visit in Diyala province, and Arab leaders in Kirkuk rejected the visit in a written statement.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...q.ahmadinejad/
updated 5:57 p.m. EST, Sun March 2, 2008
....His official welcome and meeting with Talabani was at the presidential house outside of the heavily-fortified International Zone where most high-level events in Baghdad are held.
Ahmadinejad shunned the security measures followed by many other leaders on visits to Baghdad, riding from Baghdad's airport in a civilian-style sedan -- and not an armored military vehicle or helicopter -- to central Baghdad.
|
How powerful and confident did McCain and Cheney, appear....sneaking into Iraq separately unannounced, holed up in a heavily fortified compound, venturing out only briefly, just a mile away from the Green Zone, under tight military escort, over roads lined with US troops, swept in advance for IEDs, vs. Ahmadinejad arriving in advance of two weeks public notice, despite some vehement protests, with no heavy security, traveling in a civilian sedan, spending almost two days living and sleeping outside the Green Zone?
Why would Obama want to contribute to that stark comparison of who appears unconcerned and in control, and who seems weak and apprehensive?
Why would his plan for Iraq need to be changed if conditions improved?
Quote:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/foreignpolicy/#iraq
#
5. In September 2007, he laid out a detailed plan for how he will end the war as president.
# Bring Our Troops Home: Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.
# Press Iraq's leaders to reconcile: The best way to press Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their future is to make it clear that we are leaving. As we remove our troops, Obama will engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society – in and out of government – to seek a new accord on Iraq's Constitution and governance. The United Nations will play a central role in this convention, which should not adjourn until a new national accord is reached addressing tough questions like federalism and oil revenue-sharing.
# Regional Diplomacy: Obama will launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent American history to reach a new compact on the stability of Iraq and the Middle East. This effort will include all of Iraq's neighbors – including Iran and Syria. This compact will aim to secure Iraq's borders; keep neighboring countries from meddling inside Iraq; isolate al Qaeda; support reconciliation among Iraq's sectarian groups; and provide financial support for Iraq's reconstruction....
|