lily
03-17-2008, 10:55 PM
Well, I wonder if he'll cross paths with Cheney since they are seeing the same people......I'd doubt that McCain would want a photo-op with Cheney though. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/middleeast/16cnd-iraq.html?em&ex=1205812800&en=12e63ac0c5b6d63a&ei=5087%0A)
McCain Visits Iraq to Meet With Officials
Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway/U.S. Air Force, via Associated Press
Senator John McCain at Baghdad's airport on Sunday. The presidential
candidate arrived in Iraq for meetings with Iraqi and American officials.
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and SOLOMON MOORE
Published: March 16, 2008
BAGHDAD - Senator John McCain arrived in Iraq on Sunday on a trip that was
billed as a visit by an official Congressional delegation but which also
served to promote his foreign policy credentials as he campaigns for the
White House.
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was scheduled
to meet with officials including the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C.
Crocker, and the senior American military commander in the country, General
David H. Petraeus.
He will also meet with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said
Yaseen Majid, a media adviser to Mr. Maliki.
Many Iraqi politicians are keeping close tabs on the American presidential
race, and some said the visit bolstered their belief that if Mr. McCain wins
in November the American military will have a large presence in Iraq for a
very long time.
"This visit confirms that the Republicans believe that the Iraqi war is very
important in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East," said Wael
Abdul Latif, an independent Shiite member of the Iraqi Parliament. "It's a
message to Iran that the United States will never leave, even after Bush is
gone."
Jalaladeen Sagheer, a senior member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a
leading Shiite party, described the visit as "an advertisement for the
American elections" and said it shows Mr. McCain's commitment to staying in
Iraq, a policy Mr. Sagheer said he favors. "It suggests that American
officials will make good on their promises."
Some Sunni Arabs were not so pleased by the visit. "If the Republicans win
the election, then nothing will really change in Iraq, and we need a big
change to kick the occupiers out of the country," said Abu Mohammed, a
30-year-old barber shop owner in Samarra, north of Baghdad. "I would like to
show him the schools and hospitals and how the children and women suffer."
Another Samarra shop owner, 52-year-old Hamid Saleh, said he wants the
Republicans to lose the election.
"All I want is someone who works to fix my country, and not destroy it," he
said.
Mr. McCain was joined on the trip by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman,
independent of Connecticut, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South
Carolina.
It wasn't clear as of Sunday night in Baghdad whether Mr. McCain, who has
been a strong supporter of the war, would make any public statements while
he is in Iraq.
He drew considerable criticism on a trip to Iraq last April for providing an
assessment of Iraq's security that at the time was more upbeat than many
Iraqi officials believed was appropriate. He later said that he had
misspoken.
American officials in Iraq said that Mr. McCain's schedule was not being
released for security reasons. "I can confirm that Senator McCain is in the
country and he is meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials," said Noel Clay, a
spokesman for the American embassy in Baghdad. Mr. McCain arrived in Iraq on
Sunday morning, he said.
Telephone calls to the Arizona senator's office in Washington were not
answered and rolled into a voicemail system that was full.
Mr. McCain, Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Graham are also visiting Israel, London
and Paris.
Mr. McCain has said the trip is not primarily political. He told reporters
last Friday: "I do want to emphasize again that the three of us are going as
members of the Armed Services Committee."
But on Thursday, Mr. McCain will attend a $1,000-per-plate fund-raising
lunch at a home in London. His campaign has said that Congress would be
reimbursed for the political parts of the trip, including the fund-raiser in
London.
McCain Visits Iraq to Meet With Officials
Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway/U.S. Air Force, via Associated Press
Senator John McCain at Baghdad's airport on Sunday. The presidential
candidate arrived in Iraq for meetings with Iraqi and American officials.
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and SOLOMON MOORE
Published: March 16, 2008
BAGHDAD - Senator John McCain arrived in Iraq on Sunday on a trip that was
billed as a visit by an official Congressional delegation but which also
served to promote his foreign policy credentials as he campaigns for the
White House.
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was scheduled
to meet with officials including the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C.
Crocker, and the senior American military commander in the country, General
David H. Petraeus.
He will also meet with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said
Yaseen Majid, a media adviser to Mr. Maliki.
Many Iraqi politicians are keeping close tabs on the American presidential
race, and some said the visit bolstered their belief that if Mr. McCain wins
in November the American military will have a large presence in Iraq for a
very long time.
"This visit confirms that the Republicans believe that the Iraqi war is very
important in the fight against terrorism in the Middle East," said Wael
Abdul Latif, an independent Shiite member of the Iraqi Parliament. "It's a
message to Iran that the United States will never leave, even after Bush is
gone."
Jalaladeen Sagheer, a senior member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a
leading Shiite party, described the visit as "an advertisement for the
American elections" and said it shows Mr. McCain's commitment to staying in
Iraq, a policy Mr. Sagheer said he favors. "It suggests that American
officials will make good on their promises."
Some Sunni Arabs were not so pleased by the visit. "If the Republicans win
the election, then nothing will really change in Iraq, and we need a big
change to kick the occupiers out of the country," said Abu Mohammed, a
30-year-old barber shop owner in Samarra, north of Baghdad. "I would like to
show him the schools and hospitals and how the children and women suffer."
Another Samarra shop owner, 52-year-old Hamid Saleh, said he wants the
Republicans to lose the election.
"All I want is someone who works to fix my country, and not destroy it," he
said.
Mr. McCain was joined on the trip by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman,
independent of Connecticut, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South
Carolina.
It wasn't clear as of Sunday night in Baghdad whether Mr. McCain, who has
been a strong supporter of the war, would make any public statements while
he is in Iraq.
He drew considerable criticism on a trip to Iraq last April for providing an
assessment of Iraq's security that at the time was more upbeat than many
Iraqi officials believed was appropriate. He later said that he had
misspoken.
American officials in Iraq said that Mr. McCain's schedule was not being
released for security reasons. "I can confirm that Senator McCain is in the
country and he is meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials," said Noel Clay, a
spokesman for the American embassy in Baghdad. Mr. McCain arrived in Iraq on
Sunday morning, he said.
Telephone calls to the Arizona senator's office in Washington were not
answered and rolled into a voicemail system that was full.
Mr. McCain, Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Graham are also visiting Israel, London
and Paris.
Mr. McCain has said the trip is not primarily political. He told reporters
last Friday: "I do want to emphasize again that the three of us are going as
members of the Armed Services Committee."
But on Thursday, Mr. McCain will attend a $1,000-per-plate fund-raising
lunch at a home in London. His campaign has said that Congress would be
reimbursed for the political parts of the trip, including the fund-raiser in
London.