Sunday in Baghdad: President Bush Surprises Everyone

This surprise Sunday visit in Iraq was so secretive that false schedules were even put out suggesting that the President had stateside commitments.

BAGHDAD (Catholic Online) - With extraordinary secrecy, President George W. Bush is spending this Sunday in Iraq, and almost no-one knew about it.

Air Force One flew throughout the night carrying the Commander in Chief, who, just 37 days before he leaves office, has decided to visit the troops and their commanders to thank them all and give them his Christmas and Holiday greetings. He will also meet with Iraqi leaders.

What is most surprising is how few people even knew of the plan.

The last time President Bush visited Iraq was in September of 2007. As he winds down his tenure in office, he appears to be committed to wrapping up his time in office affirming that he was the President who sent our troops into this battle.

He is doing so by both affirming the rightness of the decision while fully acknowledging that faulty intelligence helped to prompt it.

The President recently told ABC news in an interview that his "biggest regret" in his time in office was that flawed intelligence which became the primary justification for the prosecution of the War. There were no such weapons.

However, conditions on the ground have substantially improved and the conditions for the Iraqi people seem to be improving as well.

There appears to be an increasing probability that troops will leave the Nation under a planned withdrawal and in accordance with a negotiated security pact.

President Bush still insists that removing the Dictator Saddam Hussein and helping the Iraqi people to replace his brutal regime was a worthwhile effort and justified the intervention.

In his visits with troops, commanders and Iraqi Government leaders, he apparently intends to underscore this progress in Iraq.

This surprise Sunday visit in Iraq was so secretive that false schedules were even put out suggesting that the President had stateside commitments. Those traveling with the Commander in Chief told absolutely no-one about the plan.

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