Bush defends war in trip to Iraq

In surprise farewell, warns work not over

A man threw his shoes at President Bush during a press conference with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. (Associated Press/ APTN)

BAGHDAD - President Bush, on the first leg of a surprise farewell visit to two war zones, yesterday defended his handling of the war in Iraq but warned that it was "not over" yet, nearly six years after he launched the invasion that toppled a brutal dictator but left Iraq, and the president's legacy, struggling to recover.

The unannounced visit to Iraq, which lasted about eight hours, came 37 days before Bush hands power to President-elect Barack Obama, who is expected to oversee the departure of most if not all of the nearly 150,000 American troops in Iraq.

In a final speech to cheering American forces inside one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, Bush said his decision to bolster the US troop presence early last year to quell sectarian bloodshed was "one of the greatest successes in the history of the United States military."

"Thanks to you, the Iraq we're standing in today is dramatically freer, dramatically safer, and dramatically better than the Iraq we found eight years ago," he said before boarding Air Force One for the flight to his second stop, Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

But in a sign of the lingering animosity many Iraqis have toward Bush, and in a moment that undercut White House hopes of a glitch-free visit to a relatively quiet nation, an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes across the room at Bush during a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 28, a correspondent for Al Baghdadia, an independent Iraqi station, was about 12 feet from Bush when he shouted in Arabic: "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!" He then threw a shoe at Bush, who ducked and narrowly avoided it.

As stunned security agents and guards, officials, and journalists watched, Zaidi then threw his other shoe, shouting in Arabic, "This is from the widows, the orphans, and those who were killed in Iraq!" That shoe also narrowly missed Bush as Maliki stuck a hand in front of the president's face to help shield him.

Both shoes slammed into the wall behind Bush and Maliki, who proceeded to take questions from other journalists after Zaidi was wrestled to the ground and taken away.

The president, upon arriving aboard Air Force One at Baghdad's airport, was greeted by US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army General Ray Odierno, the commander of US troops in Iraq. Bush then threw himself into a flurry of meetings with Iraqi officials, including President Jalal Talabani, vice presidents Adel Abdul Mehdi and Tariq Hashimi, and Maliki.

"The work hasn't been easy, but it's been necessary," Bush said after his meeting with Talabani, Mehdi, and Hashimi.

Bush said his visit was in part "to herald the passage" of a Status of Forces Agreement for the withdrawal of all US forces by the end of 2011 and an accompanying Strategic Framework Agreement outlining future US-Iraqi relations.

Bush called the package "a reminder of our friendship and as a way forward to help the Iraqi people realize the blessings of a free society." Some critics say it is not clear enough in its deadlines for US troop pullouts and other critics say it is likely to negate his promise that America would remain as long as it took for Iraq to remain a stable democracy.

The Bush visit, which like his three previous ones was kept secret until his arrival, reflected the changes that have been taking place in Iraq in the aftermath of what he has called his "surge" strategy. In a sign of improved security since his previous stopover in September 2007, and perhaps to burnish his image, Bush's distinctive jet landed in Baghdad in broad daylight, and Bush ventured beyond military bases and the heavily guarded International Zone in central Baghdad.

His first stop was Talabani's palace in Karada, outside of the heavily secured International Zone, where he walked up a long, red carpet with Talabani. After dark, when the meeting was over, Bush's unmarked motorcade drove through the quiet, chilly streets and crossed the bright green bridge leading into the International Zone for meetings with more Iraqi officials, including Maliki. The streets were empty, having been closed hours earlier to most traffic when security officials got word of Bush's arrival.

Appearing alongside Maliki, Bush, who only recently acknowledged regrets about relying on bad intelligence about weapons of mass destruction when he invaded Iraq in March 2003, declared, "The war is not over."

The words were in stark contrast to those he uttered May 1, 2003, shortly after Saddam's overthrow, when Bush announced that "major combat operations have ended" and that attention could turn to sustaining security and rebuilding the country.

Since then, 4,060 more US forces have died in Iraq, according to www.icasualties.org, and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. Bush's popularity level is at a record low. Most Iraqis remain without reliable electricity, clean water, sewage, and security, and pressure has mounted on the US-backed Iraqi government to end the American presence here.

That pressure led Iraqi negotiators to demand a firm withdrawal date from the United States during months of negotiations over the Status of Forces Agreement, which was approved by Iraqi's parliament Nov. 27 and will govern the US troop presence after Jan. 1. The pact mandates that American combat troops leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and that all US forces be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

In Afghanistan today, Bush got a firsthand look at the deteriorating situation in the seven-year-old US-led war, amid preparations in his administration to hand over work on a strategy overhaul to Obama and to significantly increase the US troop presence there.

Bush spoke to US soldiers and Marines at Bagram Air Base. The rally for more than a thousand military personnel took place in the dark, cold predawn hours.

"Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago," the president said. "We are making hopeful gains."

Bush then took a helicopter ride to President Hamid Karzai's palace in Kabul - the portion of the 40-hour journey that made his security detail the most nervous. Inside, Bush received a warm personal welcome from Karzai.

"I and the Afghan people are very proud and honored to the profoundest depth of our hearts to have President Bush with us here today," Karzai said, adding that he wished Bush could spend more time in the country.

Material from The New York Times and Associated Press was used in this report.