McCain in surprise Iraq visit

Republican presidential candidate John McCain arrived in Baghdad Sunday, Reuters says. His visit is to assess improved security in Iraq attributed to a build-up of 30,000 extra U.S. troops of which he has been a strong supporter. McCain in surprise Iraq visit McCain arrived in Baghdad and was due to meet Iraqi government leaders and U.S. officials in the heavily fortified Green Zone diplomatic and government compound, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said. "I can confirm he did arrive," Nantongo said. McCain was a vocal critic of the way the war in Iraq was being conducted before the troop build-up began last year as part of a new counter-insurgency strategy adopted by U.S. commanders. Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since last June, when the troop build-up was completed. There has been a spike in violence since January but U.S. commanders in Iraq say this does not represent a trend. The extra troops, growth of neighborhood security units by mainly Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs who turned against al Qaeda, and a ceasefire called by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for his Mehdi Army militia have all helped in the security gains. McCain is making his eighth visit to Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003. Television pictures showed McCain, dressed in a blue sweater, shaking hands with U.S. soldiers after his arrival. McCain said during campaigning in the United States last week that the quickest way to bring the war to a conclusion was by "continuing the surge" - part of a wider security crackdown which began in Baghdad in February 2007. "I believe the American people will have the patience to see this through," McCain said at the time. Violent deaths among civilians rose by more than 30 percent in February after six straight months of declines after a series of large-scale bombings blamed by the U.S. military on al Qaeda. McCain's visit also comes as the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq nears 4,000. More than a dozen U.S. soldiers were killed last week, 11 in three separate attacks in Baghdad and volatile Diyala province, taking the total killed to 3,988 and underlining warnings by U.S. commanders that al Qaeda remains a dangerous enemy. On his last visit in April 2007 McCain made an embarrassing gaffe. He said after a tightly choreographed visit to a Baghdad market that the American people were not being told the "good news" about the war in Iraq, suggesting that security was better at a time when Iraq still teetered on the brink of an all-out sectarian civil war. He later admitted he had misspoken in his upbeat assessment, acknowledging that he had been heavily protected by U.S. soldiers on his trip to the market. The former Navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war is hoping his security credentials will carry him to victory in November over either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, the Democrat contenders. The Iraq war is a major issue in the U.S. election, with Clinton and Obama pledging to withdraw U.S. troops at a rate of one or two brigades a month. The war has slipped off front pages to be replaced by domestic U.S. economic concerns, although the recent uptick in civilian and U.S. military casualties could threaten improving public sentiment.

McCain in surprise Iraq visit

McCain arrived in Baghdad and was due to meet Iraqi government leaders and U.S. officials in the heavily fortified Green Zone diplomatic and government compound, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said.

"I can confirm he did arrive," Nantongo said.

McCain was a vocal critic of the way the war in Iraq was being conducted before the troop build-up began last year as part of a new counter-insurgency strategy adopted by U.S. commanders.

Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since last June, when the troop build-up was completed. There has been a spike in violence since January but U.S. commanders in Iraq say this does not represent a trend.

The extra troops, growth of neighborhood security units by mainly Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs who turned against al Qaeda, and a ceasefire called by Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for his Mehdi Army militia have all helped in the security gains.

McCain is making his eighth visit to Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003. Television pictures showed McCain, dressed in a blue sweater, shaking hands with U.S. soldiers after his arrival.

McCain said during campaigning in the United States last week that the quickest way to bring the war to a conclusion was by "continuing the surge" - part of a wider security crackdown which began in Baghdad in February 2007.

"I believe the American people will have the patience to see this through," McCain said at the time.

Violent deaths among civilians rose by more than 30 percent in February after six straight months of declines after a series of large-scale bombings blamed by the U.S. military on al Qaeda.

McCain's visit also comes as the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq nears 4,000.

More than a dozen U.S. soldiers were killed last week, 11 in three separate attacks in Baghdad and volatile Diyala province, taking the total killed to 3,988 and underlining warnings by U.S. commanders that al Qaeda remains a dangerous enemy.

On his last visit in April 2007 McCain made an embarrassing gaffe.

He said after a tightly choreographed visit to a Baghdad market that the American people were not being told the "good news" about the war in Iraq, suggesting that security was better at a time when Iraq still teetered on the brink of an all-out sectarian civil war.

He later admitted he had misspoken in his upbeat assessment, acknowledging that he had been heavily protected by U.S. soldiers on his trip to the market.

The former Navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war is hoping his security credentials will carry him to victory in November over either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, the Democrat contenders.

The Iraq war is a major issue in the U.S. election, with Clinton and Obama pledging to withdraw U.S. troops at a rate of one or two brigades a month.

The war has slipped off front pages to be replaced by domestic U.S. economic concerns, although the recent uptick in civilian and U.S. military casualties could threaten improving public sentiment.