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Cheered wildly by U.S. troops, President Barack
Obama flew unannounced into Iraq on Tuesday and promptly declared
it was time for Iraqis to "take responsibility for their country"
after America's commitment of six years and thousands of lives.


      "You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a
democratic country," the president said as he made a brief
inspection of a war he opposed as candidate and now vows to end as
commander in chief. "That is an extraordinary achievement."


      A total of 4,266 U.S. troops have lost their lives in Iraq since
March 2003, and Obama said American forces had "performed
brilliantly ... under enormous strain."


      "It is time for us to transition to the Iraqis," he said as an
estimated 600 troops cheered. "They need to take responsibility
for their country."


      Obama flew into Iraq shrouded by secrecy and was shielded by
heavy security from the moment he stepped off a gleaming white and
blue Air Force One.


      The plane touched down a few hours after a car bombing in a
Shiite neighborhood of the capital city punctuated a recent surge
in violence in the war-ravaged country. Many thousands of Iraqis
have died in the six years of war in addition to the American
losses.


      Obama spoke favorably of political progress but also expressed
concern that recent gains could deteriorate with the upcoming
national elections.


      "It's important for us to use all of our influence to encourage
the parties to resolve these issues in ways that are equitable. I
think that my presence here can help do that," he said.


      Obama wore a business suit as he descended the steps of his
plane after a flight from Turkey. He shook hands with Gen. Ray
Odierno, the top U.S. commander in the country, then stepped into
an SUV for a brief ride to Camp Victory, the main American military
base in Iraq.


      Under gray skies, the motorcade rolled past troops standing at
attention. 


"It was wonderful to see the troops out there," Obama
said. "I'm so grateful, they put their heart and souls into it."


      Inside a marble palace, he was interrupted repeatedly with
cheers from the troops.


      "I love you," someone in the crowd shouted out. "I love you
back," the commander in chief replied. 

Scores of troops held
digital cameras above their heads, snapping pictures and recording
video of a day they would long remember.


      Aides decided to scrap plans for a helicopter ride to the
heavily fortified Green Zone a few miles away - but attributed the
decision to poor visibility rather than security concerns.


      Officials said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was
traveling by motorcade to meet with Obama, a change from their
planned get-together in the Green Zone.


      En route to Baghdad, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs
said Obama chose Iraq rather than Afghanistan for a war-zone visit
in part because it was near Turkey and also because progress "lies
in political solutions."


      "We spend a lot of time trying to get Afghanistan right, but I
think it is important for people to know that there is still a lot
of work to do here," Obama said.


      Obama's visit came at the conclusion of a long overseas trip
that included economic and NATO summits in Europe and two days in
Turkey.


      Shortly before leaving Turkey, the president held out Iraq as an
example of the change he seeks in policies inherited from former
President George W. Bush.


      "Moving the ship of state takes time," he told a group of
students in Istanbul. 


He noted his long-standing opposition to the
war, yet said, "Now that we're there," the U.S. troop withdrawal
has to be done "in a careful enough way that we don't see a
collapse into violence."


      In office only 11 weeks, Obama has already announced plans to
withdraw most U.S. combat troops on a 19-month timetable. The
drawdown is to begin slowly, so American forces can provide
security for Iraqi elections, then accelerate in 2010. 

As many as
50,000 troops are expected to remain in the country at the end of
the 19 months to perform counterterrorism duties.


      Tuesday's trip was Obama's third to Iraq, and his first since
taking office. He met with U.S. commanders and troops last summer
while seeking the presidency.


      Because of security concerns, the White House made no prior
announcement of the visit, and released no advance details for his
activities on the ground.


      It was the last stop of an eight-day trip to Europe and Turkey
during which Obama sought to place his stamp on U.S. foreign policy
after eight years of the Bush administration.


      He and other world leaders pledged cooperation to combat a
global recession, and he appealed with limited success for
additional assistance in Afghanistan, a war he has vowed to
intensify. 


The new president drew large crowds as he offered
repeated assurances that the United States would not seek to
dictate to other countries.


      "I am personally committed to a new chapter of American
engagement. We can't afford to talk past one another, to focus only
on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around
us." Obama said before leaving Turkey. 


The visit to a nation that
straddles Europe and Asia was designed to signal a new era. He had
pledged as a candidate to visit a majority-Muslim nation in his
first 100 days in office.


      Bush paid several trips to Iraq while in office, and on his
last, in December, he was forced to duck shoes hurled in his
direction at a news conference by an Iraqi journalist. 

By
coincidence, the Iraqi Supreme Court reduced the prison sentence
Tuesday for the man, Muntadhar al-Zeidian, now sentenced to one
year in jail rather than three.


      While U.S. casualties are down sharply from the war's height,
there were constant reminders of violence. A half-dozen bombs
rocked Shiite neighborhoods on Monday, killing 37 people. There was
no immediate death toll available from the car bomb incident that
occurred a few hours before the president arrived on Tuesday.


      The military is in the process of thinning out its presence
ahead of a June 30 deadline, under a U.S.-Iraq agreement negotiated
last year that requires all American combat troops to leave Iraq's
cities. 

As that process moves forward, the increase in bombings and
other incidents is creating concern that extremists may be
regrouping.


      Little more than a week ago, the president announced a revamped
Afghanistan strategy that calls for adding 21,000 troops, narrowing
the focus from nation-building to stamping out the Taliban and
al-Qaida and broadening the mission to include pressure on Pakistan
to root out terrorist camps in its lawless regions.


      Afghanistan was a big topic of conversation with fellow world
leaders on the earlier portion of Obama's trip, particularly the
part that took him to a NATO summit in Strasbourg, France.


      Obama's opposition to the Iraq war helped him enormously in his
campaign for the presidency. It helped him defeat former rival -
now Secretary of State - Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Iowa
caucuses that were the first test of the race, and aided his
campaign against Republican Sen. John McCain last fall.


      The end-the-war plan Obama announced in February was aimed at
fulfilling his campaign promise to end combat in Iraq within 16
months of taking office. 


Contrary to hopes among some Democrats and
grass-roots supporters, the plan calls for a 19-month timetable
instead.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Gallery

President Barack Obama flew unannounced into Iraq on Tuesday and promptly declared it was time for Iraqis to "take responsibility for their country" after America's commitment of six years and thousands of lives.

Obama in Baghdad, tells troops Iraq must take over

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