IRAQ Bush reassures during surprise visit

Bush flew, unannounced, to Iraq to talk with the prime minister.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- President Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Tuesday to assure Iraq's new prime minister that the United States is committed to helping him succeed and end the violence that threatens his new government.
"The decisions you and your Cabinet make will be determinate as to whether or not a country succeeds that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself," Bush told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in their first meeting. "I've come to not only look you in the eye. I've also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it will keep its word -- that it's in our interest that Iraq succeed."
The trip came as Bush tried to assure Americans that the Iraq war was justifiable and winnable. He had scheduled a two-day summit on the war at Camp David, Md., but after the first day Monday, he flew to Baghdad.
Bush's visit also came on the heels of some good news for the Iraqi government. Last Wednesday, an U.S. air strike killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq. And Thursday, the Iraqi government named its defense and interior ministers, who are responsible for improving security. The selections ended six months of political wrangling after the Dec. 15 election.
The trip
Because of the violence in Baghdad, the White House told only a handful of top advisers about Bush's trip. White House aides described the six-minute helicopter ride from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone as the most dangerous trip of Bush's presidency.
Even al-Maliki didn't know Bush was coming until he landed in the Green Zone, the area that houses the Iraqi government and foreign embassies. The prime minister was headed to a room for a scheduled video conference call with Bush from Camp David when he learned that the president was a few blocks away, officials from his office said.
Bush almost immediately sat down with al-Maliki and his Cabinet in the Republican Palace, which houses part of the U.S. Embassy.
Al-Maliki thanked Bush for the support and said he would form a coalition government. Officials close to al-Maliki said he wants U.S. forces to withdraw as soon as possible because he believes that Iraqis won't view his administration as self-sufficient until coalition forces leave.
"God willing, all of the suffering will be over, and all of the soldiers will be able to return to their countries with our gratitude for what they have offered," al-Maliki said to Bush.
Bush's trip had been planned for a month, but White House counselor Dan Bartlett said the president waited until the interior and defense posts were filled.
Polls
Bush's declining poll numbers have been buoyed by the recent developments in Iraq. In the latest USA Today/Gallup poll, 53 percent of 1,002 Americans surveyed June 9-10 described al-Zarqawi's death as a major achievement, and 47 percent said the war was going well, up from 38 percent in March. The president's approval rating was 38 percent, up from its low of 31 percent last month. (The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.)
Al-Zarqawi's death has added to the pressure on the Iraqi government to improve security. With the man who personified insecurity dead, Iraqi leaders said ordinary Iraqis were less willing to give them time to reduce the violence.
As many as 60 people are kidnapped daily in Iraq, and many bodies are found in the streets. Al-Qaida in Iraq has said it would continue its car bombings and beheadings.