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WORLD> Middle East
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Obama lands in Iraq for 1st visit as president
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-07 23:29 BAGHDAD -- On a trip shrouded in secrecy, President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Tuesday for a brief look at a war he opposed as a candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief.
His gleaming white and blue Air Force One touched down hours after a car bomb exploded in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital city, a deadly reminder of the violence that has claimed the lives at least 4,266 members of the US military and thousands more Iraqis since March 2003.
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 US 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 US 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 US 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. |
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