Iraqis Ask Why Bush Didn't See Iraq on Surprise Trip to Baghdad

[papau]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGABIZUKKND.html

Iraqis Ask Why Bush Didn't See Iraq on Surprise Trip to Baghdad
By Niko Price Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - President Bush's surprise visit to Iraq was the talk of Baghdad's teahouses, kebab shops and mosques Friday, with many Iraqis asking why he didn't take advantage of his trip to see firsthand how his rule has treated them. <snip>

"He came for the sake of the elections," Kheiri said. "He never thought of the Iraqi people. He doesn't care about us. It was a personal visit for his own sake." <snip>

While U.S. troops called the trip courageous, some Iraqis saw it as cowardly. "The way he made the trip shows he's afraid of Iraqis," said Mohammed Kamel, 40, a former soldier who now drives a taxi. "He should be; we're a fierce people."

U.S. senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jack Reed spent about 10 hours in Baghdad on Friday and planned another day in Iraq on Saturday after overnighting out of the country. On Friday, Clinton traveled between the airport, coalition headquarters and another U.S. military base in a convoy of civilian SUVs with an escort of Humvees and Apache helicopters. She met with coalition officials, U.S. troops, a group of Iraqi female politicians and talked briefly with Iraqi workers on the bases. Media coverage was restricted, however, and few Iraqis heard about her trip Friday. <snip>

[Holly]

1. This isn't good

"The way he made the trip shows he's afraid of Iraqis," said Mohammed Kamel, 40, a former soldier who now drives a taxi. "He should be; we're a fierce people."

Bush's* quick visit to Iraq is going to backfire. Sure, he got some heartwarming (sarcastic) photo-ops, but his action may further immobilize the Iraqi resistance. Again the WH does not take into account the cultural differences between Westerner's and Iraqi's. This is civilization who pride themselves on their history of fighting and defeating the invaders. Bush* sent a message to the people of Iraq yesterday, he fears them. Does anyone in Washington study history...their ignorance is mind-blowing.

[MISSDem]

4. Dream on

Unless he really does something really really bad (this wasn't it) and unless the Democrats come up with someone really really good Bush is reelected now.

[lumpy]

9. Bush has already done somethings very very bad

Like lying to the US public regarding reasons for bombing the hell out of Iraq resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocents in that country with no plan for post-war occupation resulting in the deaths of countless innocent Iraqis and US soldiers, destroying Iraq's infrastructure and neccesities of life.
It was very very bad of Bush to destroy our once solid diplomatic relations with our main allies.
Making every citizen of the US a target for the hatred he has created by his bullying and arrogance against other world communities.
I could go on but you know what I mean.

[Mal]

20. I think he means something bad

that Americans actually care about, ie, something that has to do with Americans, not the lesser species. There's not enough real people (ie, Americans) dying in Iraq for Americans to be too concerned.

[TryingToWarnYou]

25. How would we know?

The media is forbidden from showing all the inconvenient pictures of the returning soldiers on their final trip. If Bush can go to Iraq for 2.5 hours, then why can't he go to a funeral or a memorial service for those killed under his command?

The mouth-breather FR types would say "Well, he cannot show favoritisim to one family over another if he goes to one funeral but not another". I say hogwash. I think there should be an organized memorial service for the families of all the soldiers that have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. He could do one really nice thing, all at once and be there. Of course, flying into Iraq for a photo-op is far less dangerous than facing a throng of pissed off family members.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. As much as the Freepers tried their hardest to paint Clinton as a coward..

...Clinton attended funeral services for fallen serviceman, regardless of any perceived threat.

It's all part of the job, Bunnypants, even if YOU stole it. Quit going AWOL.

[Tuttle]

15. Doesn't he need to get elected before he can be 'reelected'?

n/t

Tut-tut

[neuvocat]

19. You don't think that's bad, huh?

Read on:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s999853.htm

[aquart]

33. You mean, like a blow job?

I appreciate your attempt at demoralization but who, exactly, supports George?

He got the American Muslim vote last time.

He got steelworkers and some unions(?)

He got Nevada by promising he wouldn't dump nuclear waste on them.

He got white men with jobs.

He got the military vote. And all those proud National Guards troops.

Well, the American Muslims won't vote for him. The steelworkers and everyone else in a union have been screwed. Nevada is getting the dump. Fewer white men have jobs. The military has been screwed six ways to Sunday. And you don't want to talk about George with a Guardsman who's just had his duty extended.

And all these groups have pissed off relatives.

Rich white men are 1% of the population. He's still got the Jewish and Christian fundamentalists.

So who's voting for George besides them?

[Zero Gravitas]

37. you wish

but a photo-op like this is not going to make the tiniest bit of difference to the election outcome.

[truthisfreedom]

13. i agree. what's stupid about this is that bush's visit will cost more

lives and limbs to our troops because he's shown his fear of the Iraqi insurgents and shown his mistrust of Iraqi citizens, and made no attempt to bond with them when he had the opportunity. of course he couldn't, because the place isn't secure... but what he did do gives all the appearance of trying to raise morale for an occupation force that is working against an entire people, not against a common enemy of that people.

i believe that bush has sent the signal that he fears all Iraqis.

[LiberalFighter]

17. Bush slips into, out of Iraq safely

1st visit by a U.S. president was done to boost troops' morale, demonstrate improved security.

Isn't that a contradiction?? Bush slips in and out safely under secrecy to say that security in Iraq is good? If security is tops shouldn't anyone be able to enter the country without worrying about being attacked? At least if he had the security that he had for the British trip he wouldn't have anything to worry about. And considering there are how many US troops in Iraq? Wouldn't they be guilt ridden if the chimp had been injured or killed while they were occupying the country?

I was surprised to see this article in the Indianapolis Star considering how conservative it is.

[AndyTiedye]

23. It Might Not Only be the Iraqis He Worried About

Some of our own troops are beginning to wonder if they'll ever see
their loved ones again, and some of them may not be to happy with
the boy king right now. All of them have guns.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

29. I was just thinking that exact same thing...he may be more fearful...

...of our own people than he is of the Iraqis.

Then again, it's hard to tell with Bunnypants. He tends to run away from anything that scares him.

[LiberalFighter]

32. Too bad that can't be used as a strategy

If there were enough incidents intentional or not that caused dim wad to either stay away from events or to just run away from others it could produce enough of a fear factor that would make his life miserable to the point of not wanting to run in 2004. Or not performing up to the level he is known to manage.

He is old enough that enough stress could make a difference.

[shamanstar]

2. that is a very very good question

i wonder how many people asked themselves that? i didnt until i read the article.

[psychopomp]

27. He did not address the Iraqi people

He was meeting the troops and speaking to Americans; from an Iraqi standpoint, that could be perceived as the dissonance afforded enemies, not comrades or friends.

[Bozola]

3. The problem is....

that the various geniuses (make no mistake about it, the various Iraqi resistance leaders ARE geniuses) will respond to Bush's "message" with a very loud, clear, and bloody message in return.

Hey, W, how many troops did you just condemn?

[sweettater]

5. The first thing my sister, her oldest son is in Iraq, and I

said yesterday when we got wind of this misadventure was when will all hell break loose. Be afraid, very afraid! You are right this will be a death sentence to many of our troops. What an evil man bush is.:cry:

[Holly]

6. I agree

Pretty pictures will soon be forgotten as the death toll in Iraq increases. His reckless PR stunt has guaranteed a violent response from the Iraqi's.

[PaDUer]

7. Guess they want

his head on a platter??

[Cronus Protagonist]

24. Maybe they think of him as Mullah Bush?

[PaDUer]

26. wouldn't surprise me..

btw, I followed the link to your homepage...Great! :-)

[Scott Lee]

8. Because he would have taken an RPG up his arse, that's why

He's dumb but not THAT dumb.

[Cocoa]

10. these Iraqis should be hired as TV pundits over here

they're bringing up some very good points, and from what I'm hearing our whores are missing these things.

[maggrwaggr]

11. Hillary -- way more courageous than Bush could ever hope to be

the chickenhawk is upstaged by a woman

[shamanstar]

12. many men are upstaged by women on a regular basis

you say it like being upstaged by a woman is a bad thing.

[pippin]

14. Did he meet any Iraqi Leaders?

The ones who are supposedly "on his side? and who support the american presence?"

[RamboLiberal]

22. If you call their pet boy Chalabi an Iraqi leader

yeah he met with him and a few others.

[Rex]

16. Why? 2 quick reasons:

Not rich
Not white

[calimary]

18. Yeah, this is definitely NOT good.

He displays himself as a) a coward and b) arrogantly insensitive.

A) because it has already been openly observed that he was concerned for his safety when Andy Card asked him "you wanna go to Baghdad?" AND he didn't bother to stay actually to break bread with everybody, preferring to beat a pansy-assed retreat as quickly as possible.

B) because he couldn't make time to meet with the "interim government" that HE had installed, with his chief toady Chalabi included, which might have been a boost for them, AND ignoring some of the people whose hearts and minds we're SUPPOSEDLY trying to win, over there. I have read in various places about how people in/of the Middle East are distinctly proud of their hospitality skills. It's a huge part of their culture. He not only showed none to them, but gave none of them any opportunity to attempt any of it to him. Even cosmetically, he might have done himself a favor (although I'm always glad when he doesn't). He just insulted the fuck out of 'em, pardon my language. Just insulted the whole lot of 'em. Too much of a big shot to stoop toward them or give them a single moment of his precious, more-important-than-they-are time.

I'm glad they see it, I wish our folks did, and I'm afraid our troops will pay, YET AGAIN, for his petty, arrogant, spoiled, self-serving, narcissistic shit.

Every time, and I mean EVERY time I think my hatred for him has reached its highest possible point, I'm proven wrong.

On edit - I forgot one. C) Note how the Iraqis said it's too bad he couldn't see for himself what his policies have done to their country. Well, we COULDN'T have THAT, could we? After all, he's surrounded by yes-men and other assorted sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear, and he can't be bothered to busy his pretty little brain by reading anything, so it'd be kind of hard to spin the facts that'd be smacking him in the face. Oh, no! No truth-tellers necessary here. Don't want to disabuse the poor idiot of his fantasies, do we?

[Entente]

21. B/C

This was not a serious trip. That's why!

[aquart]

34. Of course it was a serious trip. He went to IRAQ.

Where no president has ever gone. In time of war.

What part of that is not serious?

[Oreegone]

30. They Lie, its obviously not a safe place

All their BS about what a safe wonderful place it is becoming...they just showed what liars they are. If it was so freakin' safe they wouldn't have had to go to this extent to protect their "fearless" leader.:grr:

[RedSock]

31. ahmad chalabi knew he was coming!!!!

http://uggabugga.blogspot.com/2003_11_23_uggabugga_archive.html#107001231663168551

"We were surprised to find this in the Yahoo slideshow about Bush's Baghdad visit:

"Iraqi Governing Counsel member Ahmad Chalabi sits in the audience as he awaits the arrival of President Bush (news - web sites) at Baghdad International Airport Thursday, Nov. 27, 2003, in Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites). Bush paid a surprise Thanksgiving day visit to American troops in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)"



It's a minor point, but did Chalabi know more about the visit than even some Secret Service agents?

[Zero Gravitas]

35. You can't see Iraq

when you're a sniviling coward who is only interested in an election photo-op and you're cowering behind thousands of armed gaurds.

[killbotfactory]

36. Too many donkey missles.

He was concerned for the safety of our troops, you see.