By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent 11 minutes ago
President Bush told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a surprise face-to-face visit on Tuesday that the United States will stand with Iraq's new government as it struggles for stability. "When America gives its word, it keeps its word," Bush said.
In a trip designed to both showcase that support and ease war concerns at home, the president also emphasized that the future of the war-scarred country rests in Iraqi hands.
"The decisions you and your cabinet make will be determinate as to whether or not a country succeeds that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself," he told al-Maliki.
Later, addressing a group of about 300 cheering U.S. troops, Bush said: "Our job is to help them succeed and we will."
Still, several U.S. lawmakers briefed on Bush's trip predicted that a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops might be accelerated following the presidential visit.
Bush spent just over 5 1/2 hours in Baghdad. On the way home, he told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iraqi officials had expressed "concern about our commitment and keeping our troops there."
"There's a worry, almost to a person, that we will leave before they are capable of defending themselves. And I assured them they didn't need to worry. I also made it clear that we want to work with their government on a way forward on all fronts."
Bush slipped away from what had been billed as a two-day meeting at Camp David, Md., for a secret 11-hour overnight flight that brought him to his first direct talks with al-Maliki and members of the new government.
His visit was accompanied by incredibly tight security. On the way out, lights were turned off both on the helicopters that took Bush and his entourage to the airport and on Air Force One itself.
Only a handful of close aides knew about the trip in advance.
Al-Maliki himself did not know the president was in Baghdad until five minutes before they met in the blue-domed palace once used by Saddam Hussein but which now houses part of the U.S. Embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
The Iraqi president had come to the embassy expecting to participate in a satellite video conference with Bush and aides from the presidential mountain retreat in Maryland.
Instead, Bush sat beside him. The video conference went on as scheduled with the U.S. officials still at Camp David.
"I've come to not only look you in the eye. I've also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it keeps its word — that it's in our interest that Iraq succeed," Bush told al-Maliki.
Bush didn't say whether he and the prime minister had discussed the timing or scope of a possible U.S. military withdrawal. There are now about 130,000 U.S. troops in the country and Bush faces increasing pressure at home to begin bringing many of them home.
Al-Maliki, speaking in Arabic, told Bush through a translator that he was committed to a government that bridged Iraq's major ethnic factions and was determined to succeed in defeating terrorists.
He also thanked Bush for U.S. protection, but expressed a general hope for the day when American troops would be gone.
"God willing, all of the suffering will be over, and all of the soldiers will be able to return to their countries with our gratitude for what they have offered," al-Maliki said.
It was Bush's second unannounced visit to Baghdad in the three-year war.
Bush met with American troops at Thanksgiving 2003 in a visit to Baghdad confined to the airport and limited to several hours.
This time, Bush flew by helicopter from Baghdad International Airport to and from the Green Zone, where Iraq's government meets and the U.S. and British embassies are based.
Bush also met with other Iraqi leaders before leaving the country, and addressed U.S. troops assigned in supporting roles to the U.S. Embassy.
The troops cheered loudly and raised digital cameras high, hoping to capture a picture of Bush. After about 10 minutes, he took the podium, joined by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey, the Army's top commander in Iraq.
"Thought I'd stop by to say hello," Bush said, to laughter. "I bring greetings from a grateful nation. And I thank you for your sacrifice."
"My message to the Iraqi people is this: Seize the moment, seize this opportunity to develop a government of and by and for the people," he said.
Bush's visit came as his administration attempted to regain the initiative after months of increasingly deadly violence in Iraq and flagging support for the war among Americans.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gave a classified briefing on Bush's trip to selected senators.
Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters afterward that Bush's trip "is likely to lead to phased redeployments this year and continuing in the next year."
Nothing he heard at the briefing suggested otherwise, he said.
Rumsfeld said that many U.S. troops have already been brought home. He said officials would meet with Iraqi leaders "in the weeks ahead discussing at what pace we're going to be able to draw down our forces and it will all be done in a very orderly way."
Bush's visit came six days after a U.S. air strike killed terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and five days after al-Maliki completed his cabinet by naming the ministers of Defense and Interior — events the president's advisers hoped would lead to political progress.
But underscoring the dangers that remain in Iraq, a series of explosions struck the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people. And the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq pledged to avenge predecessor al-Zarqawi's death with horrific attacks, according to a statement posted on the Web.
Bush visited a day before al-Maliki's new security crackdown was to take effect, one involving a 75,000-troop deployment, road closures, a curfew and a ban on personal weapons.
"I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of your country is in your hands," Bush told the Iraqi leader.
Without giving specifics, Bush said he and al-Maliki had talked about Iraq's economy, security issues and reconstruction.
The trip was known only to a handful of aides and a small number of journalists sworn to secrecy.
"Obviously, when you're entering a situation where the enemy is so active, we have to be extra cautious," said White House counselor Dan Bartlett.
Al-Maliki has won U.S. admiration by promising to crack down on militias and sectarian violence, promote national reconciliation, accelerate reconstruction efforts and restore essential services such as electricity.
About 2,500 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003. War anxiety has been the driving force behind Bush's plunge in the polls and a cause of Republican distress about holding control of Congress in the November mid-tem elections.
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Associated Press Writers Deb Riechmann at Camp David and Ryan Lenz in Baghdad contributed to this story.