The Cocky Thief of Baghdad

George Bush loves secrets. He enjoyed this one a lot. His Bantam Rooster arrogance was on display today after having sneaked into Baghdad for a lovely Photo Op and speech on our dime. He doesn't owe us any explanations. A pResident's gotta do what a pResiden'ts gotta do for Freedom and Democracy; and have fun doing it while surveying his riches in the Green Zone. His message to Iraq, "Seize the moment", but wait until we've seized all the oil, and "won" the war. Oh, and there will be violence Bush assured us.
WaPo's Dana Milbank marveled in the Washington Sketch at the absence of a picture of Bush aboard the helicopter over Baghdad. The only published picture is of Tony the Snowblower and Dan Bartlett looking scared, hot and uncomfortable. Dana wasn't looking hard enough. Undercover pretzeldent: "The POTUS is on board!" Mr. Bush yelled to reporters as he climbed the rear steps of the plane. Air Force One, piloted by the same colonel who had flown Mr. Bush to Iraq on his first trip to Iraq in November 2003, was wheels-up at 9:07 PM Washington time Monday night. It landed at Baghdad International Airport at 4:08 PM Baghdad time Tuesday afternoon. Presumably he slept during the flight. No reports of chats en route.

A heckuva lot more...and an update (shocking memo):

For the secret trip by the most secretive pResident in our history, White House reporters were herded and bamboozled and made to look like uninformed fools. Those left in the lurch at the White House during the lie were held at gunpoint ...the bewildered pool was...held for a little under 20 minutes guarded by two Marines holding large guns.The chosen untrusted few invited to go to Baghdad with Lieboy were stripped of their communications devices in the name of national security. Bushspeak, "The enemy has an advantage in this war, because they can get on our TV screens every day." The solution: Turn off TV coverage, control the press, and we'll win the war.


Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, puppet du jour, wasn't informed until five minutes before Lieboy's arrival that he had a date with destiny but overzealous staffer must have been informed first to set up the flags at the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for the Photo Ops. What an opulent joint the embassy is. Members of the audience, who work in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, applaud as they listen to President Bush during his surprise visit.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
300 "troops"/employees of the mother of all embassies were lined up to greet Bush for his Photo Op of caring.
The embassy complex — 21 buildings on 104 acres, according to a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee report — is taking shape on riverside parkland in the fortified “Green Zone,” just east of al-Samoud, a former palace of Saddam Hussein’s, and across the road from the building where the ex-dictator is now on trial.
The Republican Palace, where U.S. Embassy functions are temporarily housed in cubicles among the chandelier-hung rooms, is less than a mile away in the 4-square-mile zone, an enclave of American and Iraqi government offices and lodgings ringed by miles of concrete barriers. The 5,500 Americans and Iraqis working at the embassy, almost half listed as security, are far more numerous than at any other U.S. mission worldwide. They rarely venture out into the “Red Zone,” that is, violence-torn Iraq.
“The presence of a massive U.S. embassy — by far the largest in the world — co-located in the Green Zone with the Iraqi government is seen by Iraqis as an indication of who actually exercises power in their country,” the International Crisis Group, a European-based research group, said in one of its periodic reports on Iraq.
During his "press" conference in the Rose Garden today, Lieboy was asked why the need for such secrecy. The Decider:"I think...look...it's a security concern because I'm a high-value target for some. And Iraq is a dangerous place. The American people have got to know that I will take precautions when I travel somewhere.It was a good trip. And it was an exciting trip, by the way. I was up there in the cockpit of that airplane coming into Baghdad, watching Colonel Tillman steer us in. It was...it was an unbelievable, unbelievable feeling."
All together now, Do-Si-Do! Press Chorus Line.
The pressfest was a jocular jockish slap on the rump from Bush. He was at his snappy best as he'd pulled a fast one on everyone the day before. The White House Press Pool has undergone a slight shuffle again, new faces in the crowd. Georgie gets the names off his list but doesn't know the reporters, just the questions they'll ask. George, cocksure of himself, didn't disappoint in the faux pas department, committing a blunder akin to waving buh bye to Stevie Wonder.
Yes, Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades on?
Q I can take them off.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm interested in the shade look, seriously.
Q All right, I'll keep it, then.
THE PRESIDENT: For the viewers, there's no sun. (Laughter.)
Q I guess it depends on your perspective. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Touche. (Laughter.)
The problem is, Peter Wallsten (LA TIMES) suffers from a form of Macular Degeneration, Stargardt’s Disease. His eyes are very sensitive to light. Bush found that information out later and called Peter to apologize, "[Bush] said, `I needle you guys out of affection,’" Wallsten said. "I said, ‘I understand that, but I don’t want you to treat me any differently because of this.’"
Wallsten said the president said he would not treat him differently, so Wallsten encouraged him to "needle away." He said, `I will. Next time I’ll just use a different needle,’" Wallsten said. Another faux pas. Sticking needles into one's eyes is one of the possible procedures used to treat MDR. Boy Blunder was all excited from his undercover adventure and stepped in yet another one. And again, and again, and again. The pretzeldent of low expectations. We should all cheer if he gets himself dressed. We don't even know if he does that properly.
The chosen 300 out of 5,500 U.S. Embassy Employees allowed to grace the hand shaking area. Short Photo Op there. Chimpy must have been getting tired, it's haaard work traveling. He said so today. The poor boy had jet lag and he's nearly 60. Awwww. Feel free to retire any time if it's that difficult.




Update:'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

"The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says shows that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees...read on"

"First Draft" says there is another cable and wonders why the Washington Post is burying it?