Shoes Stay On For Bush In Afghanistan

President Bush got a first-hand look at the deteriorating situation in the seven-year-old Afghanistan war Monday, flying in for a surprise visit to meet the country's leader and to address American troops.

Mr. Bush spoke to U.S. soldiers and Marines at a hangar on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base. He told the troops that Afghanistan is what he calls "a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago."

He struck a hopeful note, telling them, "we are making hopeful gains."

"Thanks to you, the Taliban has gone from power, the al Qaeda training camps are closed, and 25 million Iraqis are free. And the American people, your loved ones, are more secure," Mr. Bush told the troops.

But, Afghanistan has just seen one of the most violent years since the U.S. invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban.

U.S. commanders are calling for another 20,000 troops to bolster the 31,000 already fighting in the increasingly violent war there, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.

While Mr. Bush may have hoped for better security conditions across the country, at least nobody threw shoes at him.

His audience in Iraq on Sunday wasn't as gracious.

As the President spoke alongside his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad, an irate Iraqi television reporter stood up, yelled "this is a farewell kiss, you dog," in Arabic, and launched both of his shoes at the unsuspecting American leader.

Mr. Bush dodged the projectiles with admirable agility. (

In an interview after the incident with an American television pool reporter, President Bush said: "I thought it was interesting, I thought it was unusual to have a guy throw his show at you. But I'm not insulted.

"The guy wanted to get on TV and he did. I don't know what his beef is. But whatever it is I'm sure somebody will hear it."

An Iraqi government official said Monday the reporter, Muntadar al-Zeidi, was being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards and was being tested for alcohol and drugs.

The official told The Associated Press that al-Zeidi was being interrogated over whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Mr. Bush during the news conference.

After addressing the troops at Bagram in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush took a helicopter ride to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's palace in Kabul.

At the compound, Mr. Bush and Karzai reviewed an Afghan honor guard before going inside to talk.

Inside, sitting side-by-side with Mr. Bush, Karzai said he and the Afghan people were "very proud and honored to the profoundest depth of our hearts to have President Bush with us here today."

However, Karzai's warm sentiments for the outgoing U.S. President are not shared by all his countrymen - certainly not by his own political opponents.

Speaking to reporters in Kabul, Mr. Bush said he had told Karzai, "you can count on the United States. Just like you've been able to count on this administration, you will be able to count on the next administration."

But CBS News' Fazul Rahim reports many Afghans are counting on the new administration to bring change, rather than a continuation of President Bush's policies.