BAGHDAD, March 16, 2008
McCain Makes Unannounced Trip To Iraq
With 13 U.S. Troops Killed This Week, GOP Candidate Who Supports Bush's War Makes "Fact-Finding" Visit
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Sen. John McCain at Baghdad's International Airport, during his stopover to visit the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, Sunday, March 16, 2008. McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee who has linked his political future to American success in Iraq, made the unannounced trip to meet with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials. (AP/Master Sgt. A. Dunaway, USAF)
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Iraq: 5 Years Later
Five years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, the war continues to bring death and destruction. Instability, high unemployment and scarce resources cast a shadow on the quality of life. Lara Logan reports.
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Week In Iraq Photos
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The trip by McCain, who has linked his political future to U.S. military success in the nearly five-year-old war, coincided with the 20th anniversary of a horrific chemical weapons attack in northern Iraq.
McCain met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and planned to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, according to the U.S. Embassy. Further details of McCain's visit, which had been anticipated, were not being released for security reasons, the embassy said.
Before leaving the United States, McCain, one of the foremost proponents of the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was for fact-finding purposes, not a campaign photo opportunity.
But he expressed public worries that militants in Iraq might try to influence the November general election.
"Yes, I worry about it," he said, responding to a question during a campaign appearance in Pennsylvania. "And I know they pay attention, because of the intercepts we have of their communications."
McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., two top supporters of his presidential ambitions.
The weeklong trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France, and include his first meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He also is expected to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials.
His focus in Iraq was thought to be the drop in sectarian violence and U.S. and civilian casualties since last summer. Exactly what was discussed, however, remained unclear since numerous telephone calls to aides traveling with McCain went unanswered.
Elsewhere, Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the anniversary of the chemical weapons attack in Halabja, near the Iranian border, with solemn observances. The streets were empty and heavily patrolled by Iraqi security forces.
Saddam Hussein ordered the 1988 attack as part of a scorched-earth campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the north, which was seen as aiding Iran near the end of its war with Iraq. Saddam was executed for other crimes against humanity before he could face trial for the attacks.
McCain's trip to Iraq is his eighth. Last November, he met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
On a visit last April, the Arizona senator criticized news reports he said focused unfairly on violence, and said Americans were not getting a "full picture" of progress in the security crackdown in the capital.
McCain was combative toward reporters' questions in the heavily guarded Green Zone, and responded testily to a question about his comment that it was safe to walk some Baghdad streets. He later acknowledged traveling with armed U.S. military escorts.
Violence has dropped throughout the capital since, with an influx of some 30,000 additional U.S. soldiers sent to Iraq last year. The U.S. military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 percent since last February.
Still, violence continues in some parts of the country, according to reports from police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.
On Sunday, a parked car bomb exploded in western Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, killing one person and wounding two others. Two civilians and nine others were wounded in Mosul when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest, police said. A roadside bomb killed another person in the northwestern city.
Just outside Baqouba, the capital of restive Diyala province, three people were killed in clashes between police and a faction of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, police said. In the city itself, gunmen killed a city hall employee, police said.
Police also found the bullet-riddled bodies of at least 16 people in Baghdad, Muqdadiyah, Mosul and the southern cities of Basra and Kut, where Shiite militia violence has been on the rise.
In Washington, two of McCain's colleagues who support Democrats for president, said senators - including candidate McCain - have the right to visit various parts of the world.
But, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif: "I think it would have probably have been better if he took members who were not so closely identified with his campaign. But this is indicated to be a congressional visit.
"Obviously the world's going to watch it, and we'll know whether it's exploited for other reasons. I don't believe it will be, but we'll see," Feinstein, who supports New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, said on CNN's "Late Edition." She appeared with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who supports Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
With Troop Buildup In Baghdad, Violence Spreads Throughout Rest of Country
The influx of thousands of U.S. forces has driven down insurgent attacks in Baghdad, but violence elsewhere in Iraq raises questions about whether killings will continue to drop as
American forces begin to leave, the United Nations said Saturday.
Violent attacks have grown more frequent in recent weeks.
Thirteen U.S. soldiers have been killed in a week, including a soldier who was killed Saturday when he was shot during combat operations in Baghdad. Five others died in a single suicide attack in central Baghdad last week. In a separate attack a week ago, two massive bombs hit Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood, killing 68 people.
With Saturday's death, at least 3,988 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The report from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq describes how, as security improved in Baghdad, violent attacks spread last year to other parts of the country, including Diyala Province and Mosul, al-Qaida's last urban stronghold.
"The government of Iraq continued to face enormous challenges in its efforts to bring sectarian violence and other criminal activity under control against a backdrop of political instability," the report, which examined the last six months of 2007, said.
Thousands of additional U.S. forces went to Iraq starting last year as part of a strategy by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, to secure the capital and give Iraq's politicians breathing room to cut deals that would bring minority Sunni Arabs into the government and weaken the insurgency.
While the U.S. military has said a 60 percent reduction in attacks followed the influx of more than 20,000 additional troops, known as the surge, the extra security has not succeeded in accomplishing the political benchmarks that was the goal.
Military officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The report, the 12th issued from the U.N. in Iraq, comes in the wake of the first sizable reduction in troops since a security plan began last year.
Three months ago, U.S. military officials sent home one brigade numbering about 5,000 troops. Further reductions, however, are being delayed for three months so military commanders in Iraq can assess progress.
The U.N. report cautioned against hasty conclusions because "the extent to which the decrease in violence was sustainable remained unclear."
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. chief in Iraq, said so-called Awakening Councils, groups composed of former Sunni fighters who have accepted U.S. funding to switch allegiances and fight al Qaeda in Iraq, have played an important role in stopping violence.
The report also raised questions about human rights violations at detainment facilities in Kurdistan, and the conduct of private security firms such as Blackwater Worldwide, which remains at the center of a federal probe following the deaths 17 Iraqi civilians last year.
In Other Developments:
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 274 CommentsObama = no pandering to special interests
McCain = politics of influence and fear
Obama = politics of dialogue and change
McCain = popular votes received in primaries in OH [636,256], TX [709,477] & WI [224,226]
Obama = popular votes received in primaries in OH [979,025], TX [1,358,785] & WI [646,007]
McCain = other than Bush%u2019s plans, no plan for the economy
Obama = stimulate economy via targeted domestic investment and middle-class tax cuts
McCain = war
Obama = no war
McCain = permanent military bases in Iraq
Obama = no permanent military bases in Iraq
McCain = tax dollars go to military and war
Obama = tax dollars go to health, education & infrastructure
McCain = continue with Bush%u2019s tax breaks for the wealthy
Obama = ensure tax cuts for the working middle class
McCain = What, NAFTA rewards slave labor? Oh well, get over it, Michigan!!
Obama = renegotiate NAFTA to include enforceable labor and environmental standards.
McCain = pathway to citizenship
Obama = pathway to citizenship
McCain = %u201CBomb, bomb, bomb . . . bomb, bomb Iran.%u201D
Obama = diplomacy, reason and sanity . . . not war, death and destruction [see above].
McCain = viewed internationally as an extension of Bush, Cheney and the disgraced neocons
Obama = a natural born diplomat
McCain = lame duck from the start
Obama = living history
McCain = last-ditch candidate of a terminally corrupted party
Obama = the future
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Posted by GreatDriveW
Obama = Completely unqualified for the job............maybe try Hollywood....
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Posted by perception5 at 08:21 AM : Mar 16, 2008
+ report abuse
Well tell us what is McCain going to do to change things. We can''t afford to keep troops in this nation for ever and after 6 years and a trillion dollars we can''t ever fly in and out of this country. Now IF you think thats winning, I got news for you... IT IS NOT!!
Posted by perception5 at 08:21 AM : Mar 16, 2008
...............
Bush = COMPLETELY unqualified for the job........... defecates on our Constitution............ couldn''''t even say or spell "defecate" correctly!
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Posted by USAyesterday at 08:28 AM : Mar 16, 2008
+ report abuse
Why do these cowards come on here, post trash like that and then refuse to even debate the issues. I can''t figure them out. It''s obvious though that they understand NOTHING about our form of Government. They think if somehow they can use fear and ignorance to win an election then they are okay. In the face of what has happened to George Bush they should understand that it''s just not true. There''s a price to be paid and they are going to pay it I''m afraid.
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Posted by hhroams at 08:41 AM : Mar 16, 2008
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Now I''ve been to Maine many times and sparky that accent is NOT from there... it''s about as TEXAS as it can get. In fact if you went to a bar in Texas last night, at the end of that bar you would find a Drunk... If you stopped to talk with him, there ya have it!! That''s the Bush Lingo!!
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Posted by USAyesterday at 08:50 AM : Mar 16, 2008
+ report abuse
Yes and I intend to start ignoring them. This is much to important to be taken off in some sort of school yard back and forth. I''ve tried telling my good friend MCVet that, but with Sarge, you don''t tell him anything. HE loves getting into it with them... LOL
Posted by talk2kim67 at 09:00 AM : Mar 16, 2008
you dont understand, people like skyk, usayesterday, joyous88, excoachken, mcvet, liberalme.....this is all they have! their lives are in such disarray from their own doing, that they need to come on here and gripe about anything just to give them temporarily relief from their internal pain. its sad i know, but dont take away their only solace in life
I actually love reading MCVet''''s posts against those folks. Sarge and j-whitman also spend hours arguing with those people. I enjoy reading their posts, but it all seems futile to me... arguing with Neanderthals! But that''''s just me.
Posted by USAyesterday at 09:02 AM : Mar 16, 2008
you enjoy the rantings of people with ptsd (mcvet) and people that cant spell (j-whitman) ?
WHAT A POLITICAL PLOY. WHO''S PAYING FOR THIS CAMPAIGN PHOTO OPP? IF HE IS THERE ON AN OFFICIAL VISIT, HE SHOULD HAVE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SENATE OR CONGRESS WITH HIM. LIKE MAYBE A DEM. OTHERWISE THIS NOTHING MORE THAN PANDERING FOR VOTES AT THE EXPENSE OF THE TAX PAYERS OF THE UNITED STATES. MAYBE HE CAN TAKE A WALK DOWN THAT SAFE STREET OUTSIDE THE GREEN ZONE, WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF 160,000 ARMED U S TROOPS.
GOD "BLESS" AMERICA
Posted by USAyesterday at 09:05 AM : Mar 16, 2008
jealous?
Posted by prissypatrio at 09:11 AM : Mar 16, 2008
you know what? then send him a letter or something. resorting to juvenile name changing (mcshame) only shows your immaturity
In Iraq for 100 years?
"FINE with me", says John McCain.
===========================
Add a few thousand more dollars that has
to be borrowed from China and the Muslim OPEC
nations for this obvious attempt to boost
McCain''s presidential campaign.
Posted by USAyesterday at 09:02 AM : Mar 16, 2008
Yeah I know! I''ve tried to use some of his line too! Man he can flame them in a heart beat. You know he''s a disabled Vietnam Vet don''t you? He was there the same time I was but I was at Marine Air Group-13. He was about 15 miles from the DMZ. I mean talk about taking NO prisoners... The guy lost 13 of the 18 he went over there with. He''s got more medal on his chest than Fort Knox. LOL
Posted by prissypatrio at 09:11 AM : Mar 16, 2008
I agree. It wouldn''t be to bad IF we could see REAL progress here but they can''t even hold elections and we have to sneak in and out of the country like thieves.
Posted by skyk at 09:15 AM : Mar 16, 2008
wow....you mcvet, mccain have a lot in common then!!!!
Posted by skyk at 09:15 AM : Mar 16, 2008
wow....you mcvet, mccain have a lot in common then!!!!
Posted by jwind11 at 09:19 AM : Mar 16, 2008
except mccain didnt come back with ptsd.....sorry mccain to lump you with these 2 boneheads
Posted by exCoachKen at 09:22 AM : Mar 16, 200
he did? where did it say that? are you just making that up?
Was the hashish supply getting low?
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Posted by jwind11 at 09:21 AM : Mar 16, 2008
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No sir THERE you are wrong! McCain flew Jets OVER the country and wasn''t skilled enough to do it properly, therefore he was shot down. Sarge, he lead a Squad of Marines in actual Combat... the REAL kind where people DIE! Big difference! Now maybe you get you kicks from attacking a Combat Veteran when he''s not around because he flamed your butt, that''s okay, but it doesn''t take away from the fact that HE say''s what he thinks and doesn''t give a *** if you like it or not.
Not to mention the attacks that the U.S. Neocons will stage to keep themselves in power.
Posted by skyk at 09:25 AM : Mar 16, 200
mcvet could fly a plane, unlike mcvet, mccain came back with his mind and body parts intact. mcvet couldnt debate his way out of a paperbag, once he knows he has lost a debate thats when he resorts to the immature and whackjob "swastika breaths" and "nazi bootlicker" remarks. go to google and search "enabler" and you might find a picture of you there. mcvet needs help and you just keep pushing him away from getting it.
A meeting with supreme commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Admiral Fallon, was subsequently cancelled when McCain heard rumors that Fallon might tell him something he didn''t want to hear.
"My president, George Bushit, never had to hear things from his military he didn''t like" McBushit explained, "Any pesky generals or admirals who didn''t fall right into line with telling President Bushit only good things got early retirement. Why should I have to settle for anything less when I''m president?" McBushit asked rhetorically.
Posted by gkc99 at 09:29 AM : Mar 16, 2008
in a word the post above is "idiotic"
"Details of McCain''s visit were not being released for security reasons, the U.S. embassy said."
If everything in Iraq is so rosy and peachy, then why is the trip unannounced? Or will this be like his trip to the Baghdad market with 200 troops, attack helicopters, and tanks and then telling us how safe he felt there?
Neo cons are such morons.
You know what really galls me? Is when people call McCain a "hero". Exactly what heroic act did he perform?
Pushing the "launch" button from 10,000 feet at 200 MPH? Getting shot down?
And can anyone explain to me why Lieberman has to tag along?
I am loosing faith in the electorate, we fall for smoke and mirrors bill *** and elect people who do the bidding of the wealthy 1% while our love ones go off to die in foreign battlefields.
Pushing the "launch" button from 10,000 feet at 200 MPH? Getting shot down?
Posted by hungry1968 at 09:33 AM : Mar 16, 2008
alot more a hero than mcvet and skyk combined. unlike those 2 whackjobs, mccain came back to become valuable member to society....the 2 bozos? well...unfortunately, they just came back
And can anyone explain to me why Lieberman has to tag along?
I am loosing faith in the electorate, we fall for smoke and mirrors bill *** and elect people who do the bidding of the wealthy 1% while our love ones go off to die in foreign battlefields.
Posted by jncc1701 at 09:34 AM : Mar 16, 2008
from your post, you sound liberal and thus probably dont pay into the tax system, you probably take from it like most liberals do. thus, its none of your concern where taxpayers money goes since none of it is yours.
Posted by jwind11 at 09:35 AM : Mar 16, 2008
He didn''t become a valuable member of society!! He became a politician!!
And if that isn''t bad enough, he became a REPUBLICAN politician.
And if that isn''''t bad enough, he became a REPUBLICAN politician.
Posted by hungry1968 at 09:39 AM : Mar 16, 2008
better than mooching off the system like you mcvet and skyk
Posted by tuningup4you at 09:39 AM : Mar 16, 2008
excellent post.....the libs need to learn the saying about "biting the hand that feeds them"
Posted by skyk
173 A-4 aircraft were shot down over Vietnam, so apparently McCain wasn''t the only "non-skilled" pilot. Also, several thousand pilots and aircrew lost their lives during the Vietnam war. So, flying "over" the country wasn''t any safer than being on the ground. Missiles and AA were just as deadly as AK-47''s.
And can anyone explain to me why Lieberman has to tag along?
Posted by jncc1701 at 09:34 AM : Mar 16, 2008
The consensus is that Lieberman is going to be McSame''s running mate - that''s why he follows him around like a puppy.
And yes - the republican presidential nominee is hosing the American taxpayers - AGAIN. (Or should I say STILL?)
Posted by jwind11 at 09:40 AM : Mar 16, 2008
Really? Perhaps you could tell us what we do for a living since you''re apparently "in the know".
Or is this more of your speculative BS which proves the point that you know nothing of what you speak?
Or is your argument so weak, AGAIN, that you''re now resorting to unfounded personal attacks?
Over 5000 US aircraft were lost in Vietnam as were several thousand pilots and aircrew. Flying in combat is not the cakewalk you make it sound like.
Posted by tuningup4you at 09:39 AM : Mar 16, 2008
Wasn''t it Bush and the GOP that borrowed trillions of dollars from China?
Wasn''t it Bush and the GOP that took that borrowed money, and funneled it right into Iraq?
Then how in the hell can you make the comment "youlove taking hard working peoples money and act like its yours to the rest of the world" when it is YOU NEO CONS that is giving our money away?!?!?!
excellent post.....the libs need to learn the saying about "biting the hand that feeds them"
Posted by jwind11 at 09:41 AM : Mar 16, 2008
Your praising the obviously delusional post are again proving that you know nothing of what you''re talking about.
Posted by skyk
173 A-4 aircraft were shot down over Vietnam, so apparently McCain wasn''''t the only "non-skilled" pilot. Also, several thousand pilots and aircrew lost their lives during the Vietnam war. So, flying "over" the country wasn''''t any safer than being on the ground. Missiles and AA were just as deadly as AK-47''''s.
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Posted by Rafterman1 at 09:41 AM : Mar 16, 2008
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"Navy pilot John Sidney McCain III should have never been allowed to graduate from the U.S. Navy flight school. He was a below average student and a lousy pilot. Had his father and grandfather not been famous four star U.S. Navy admirals, McCain III would have never been allowed in the cockpit of a military aircraft.
During his relative short stunt on flight status, McCain III lost five U.S. Navy aircraft, four in accidents and one in combat." .........
from the Vietnam Veterans Against McCain - a conservative group - website
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Posted by Rafterman1 at 09:41 AM : Mar 16, 2008
+ report abuse
Wrong and ANY Pilot or Aircrewman will tell you that. I know! I was there!! True a lot of them were shot down and they did their jobs. Did that make them special? Did that allow them to sit back while a Veteran was "Swift Boated". Not on your life. The job in that jungle was FAR worse than anything we, in the Air Wing, ever went through.. that''s just a fact!
Posted by Rafterman1 at 09:50 AM : Mar 16, 2008
I''m not saying it was easy. But I''m also not saying it was heroic.
A firefighter running into a burning building to save someone is heroic.
A soldier running into the middle of a fire fight to pull a wounded buddy back to safety is heroic.
Flying a plane and launch bombs is not heroic. It''s not easy, but it''s also not heroic.
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