IRAQ: When Bush comes to town
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President Bush arrived in Baghdad on Sunday afternoon, his fourth visit to the war zone and his first since September 2007. Much has changed here since then. Violence is down, provincial elections are planned, Baghdad’s airport has a functioning convention center. But when it comes to presidential visits, nothing has changed. Security remains the biggest concern, meaning each visit comes as a surprise to most people on the ground here, including the media.
‘President Bush is arriving Baghdad today,’ was the first word we got about the imminent visit. It came via a computer chat message relayed by an Iraqi Los Angeles Times staffer.
‘Oh no,’ I wrote back, considering the road closures that soon would follow, swallowing up any attempts to go anywhere or do anything until Bush departed. How would our staff get home for the evening? Would cell phone coverage, always iffy here, be scrambled? Did we have anyone due to fly into the airport this afternoon who would be stranded there until Air Force One left? Did we have a staffer on the plane with Bush? If not, how would we follow what was happening, given that road closures would make travel impossible.
The news had come from an Iraqi media website quoting an unidentified official. Maybe it was a false alarm. But the source seemed solid, according to the next comment that flickered into my chat window. ‘A source from PM [prime minister’s] office said that he is expected to arrive within the following few hours,’ it read.
Soon, other expatriates in Baghdad began calling or messaging, asking why they were stuck in horrendous traffic, why their appointments suddenly were being canceled, why there were so many helicopters in the sky. One colleague called from a traffic tie-up, asking if someone important was in town because suddenly no vehicles were moving.
Within 30 minutes, the rumor was fact. Iraqi TV was showing photographs of Bush walking down a red carpet, accompanied by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. For Bush, it was a historic farewell visit. For Baghdad, it was day of traffic jams and canceled appointments.
— Tina Susman in Baghdad
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