June 13, 2006
Bush in Baghdad
While we were all looking at Karl Rove, President Bush decided to make an unannounced visit to Baghdad, no doubt as a show of support for the newly completed Iraqi government and a tough-talking Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's plans to increase security in Baghdad and throughout Iraq.
From Fox News:
President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday to meet newly named Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and discuss the next steps in the troubled, three-year-old war.It was a dramatic move by Bush, traveling to violence-rattled Baghdad less than a week after the death of terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a bombing attack. The president was expected to be in Baghdad a little more than five hours.
You can say what you will about his successes and failures as a President, but George W. Bush certainly has courage. Not many Presidents—actually none that I know of, but I hardly claim empiracal knowledge—have made it a practice to visit our soldiers and our allies in an active war zone, and I can't recall a time when the technological capability for the enemy to strike against a President during a visit been greater.
This article (and others, to be sure) tells a reeling al Qaeda where Bush is and when he will be leaving the airport, and the flight paths in and out of the airport are anything but secret. Frankly, I fear the possibility of an attempt to use MANPADS against Air Force One as it leaves Baghdad International. We know that insurgents have Russian-designed SA-16 man-portable surface to air missiles, and if DEBKAfilecan be believed, as many as a thousand Iranian-built SA-7s. I do not know how much of a threat to Air Force One small man-portable missiles would be, but a volley of these missiles fired simultaneously as the President's plane was ascending could be problematic to say the least.
Those worries aside, the reasoning behind Bush's visit is sound. He is there to give a morale boost for an American military accused of murdering innocent civilians, and to show support for the Iraqi government that seems serious about cracking down on both insurgent and sectarian violence. His very presence all but assures success on both of these goals.
More as this story develops...
I hope they give Saddam a T.V. in his cell.
Posted by: Tom TB at June 13, 2006 09:57 AMAbraham Lincoln most prominantly comes to mind. He visited one of the forts defending Washington, D.C. and was wrestled to the ground by Oliver Wendell Holmes in order to avoid Confederate sharpshooters.
James Madison fled Washington, D.C. when the British invaded and burned the White House.
FDR did make numerous trips to places theoretically subject to Luftwaffe bombing.
Eisenhower went to Korea.
LBJ visited Vietnam.
Kudos to Bush for doing this.
Posted by: wjo at June 13, 2006 11:57 AMJust got done reading "Abraham Lincoln: team of equals". Abe was with U.S. Grant when General Lee attacked the army 8 miles away and when Grant took Petersburg. Abe entered the the city the morning after the city was taken by rowboat because the waterway was cramed with dead horses/soldiers, sunken boats and LIVE torpedoes. Imagine the President of the US rowing a boat into a hostile city while live ordinance is floating around you.
I don't mind giving GWB his due for going to Iraq twice but there are other presidents just as worthy if not more with respect to entering active war zones...
Posted by: matt a at June 13, 2006 01:02 PMmatt a,
If the scenario you describe is correct, then Lincoln was never in range of any manned weaponry, and only real threat he faced was running his rowboat into stationary floating mines (torpedo).
By comparison, Bush is theoretically in range of artillery ranging from rockets to mortars while at known locations on the ground, and small arms, machine gun, and surface-to-air guided missile fire while flying through Baghdad via helicopter, and again upon take-off and landing in Air Force One.
Not to take anything away from other President's (several who performed valiantly in actual combat prior to becoming President) I think the actual risk to Bush's life in Baghdad is greater due to technological advances and the ability to hit a target with great accurac from further distances.
Posted by: Confederate Yankee at June 13, 2006 01:41 PM
