Iraqis express cynicism at Bush's 150-minute visit ( Me Too !!!!)

[ConcernedCanuk]

. . Michael Howard in Baghdad and Julian Borger in Washington

Saturday November 29, 2003

The Guardian

Iraqis yesterday greeted news of President George Bush's extraordinary 150 minutes on Iraqi soil with a mixture of indifference and cynicism, as guerrilla insurgency against US forces continued and plans to hand over sovereignty to Iraqis remained mired in uncertainty.


/snip/

"While the troops cheered the moment, it is too soon to know whether the image of Bush in his army jacket yesterday will become a symbol of strong leadership or a symbol of unwarranted bravado," Dana Milbank, a political writer at the Washington Post argued.

One of the four members of the governing council who attended the dinner at Baghdad airport, Mouwafik al-Rubei'e, described their conversation with Bush as "fruitful". He said: "The US president reaffirmed his country's commitment to build a new, democratic and prosperous Iraq."

But another member of the governing council, who asked not to be named, said the "excessive secrecy" surrounding the visit could provide a propaganda boost to the insurgents. "They will be able to boast that they forced the most powerful man in the world to come in through the back door," he said. "





"They will be able to boast that they forced the most powerful man in the world to come in through the back door," he said. "


Hmmm

- guess they sorta DID now, didn't they ?

[expatriot]

1. here's something that hasn't been brought up yet...

...I thought of something immediately upon hearing it yesterday and am surprised not to hear anyone else say it: Aren't we trying to give as much legitimacy to the "governing" council as we can in order to get the Iraqi people to accept it as their legitimate government? If so, how respectful is it not to consult the supposed leaders of a country before visiting that country (as a head-of-state of a nation) and not even telling it to them until you have left? It seems like this arrogant Bush move undermines our supposed priorities.

[R Hickey]

2. I guess I visited Japan then...

Once, on a trip to Hong Kong, I spent over a hundred minutes, not just flying over Japan's scenic empire, but also waiting at their airport for a connecting flight, quarantened in an actual Japanese customs waiting room. A room that reminded me of home, since its isolation strikingly resembled many of our American First Amendment Zones!

Up til now, I hadn't really considered my trip to Japan an actual visit, since like Bush, I was never allowed to leave the airport.

But now...just ask me anything about Japan, cause (for two hours) I been there, and now I know all about it...You've simply got to see their blosseming cherry trees...and Mount Fugiama, oh how splended...you know that snow-capped volcano is perfectly cone shaped...

Why, I can remember it all, just like scenes from an old movie re-run... the sights, the sounds, the brightly costumed Gesha girls, the bullet trains...I remember my hundred minute Japan visit just as clearly as Reagan used to recollect his war experiences...and probably more clearly than our heroic, hungover, un-elected President remembers his two-hour photo-op stop-over in Iraq.