McCain drops in on Baghdad
US presidential hopeful John McCain arrived in Baghdad today for an unexpected visit with Iraqi and US diplomatic and military officials.
The visit by one of the foremost supporters of the 2003 invasion and soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee came as Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the 20th anniversary of a horrific chemical weapons attack that killed an estimated 5,600 people.
Saddam Hussein ordered the attack in Halabja as part of a scorched-earth campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the north, which was seen as aiding Iran in the final months of its war with Iraq.
The US military said that the Iraqi government has not yet asked them to turn over for execution the man most deeply associated with that crime – Hussein’s henchman and cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali.” His hanging is expected within the month.
The details of McCain’s visit were not being released for security reasons, the embassy said.
“Senator McCain is in Iraq and will be meeting with Iraqi and US officials,” said Mirembe Nantongo, spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Baghdad.
There were no media opportunities or news conferences planned for the visit. McCain, who is believed to be staying in Iraq for about 24 hours, is on his eighth trip to Iraq.
The senator met with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Maliki last November during the US Thanksgiving holiday, and is accompanied on this trip by Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Ahead of the trip, McCain reportedly insisted that the visit was a fact-finding venture, not a campaign photo opportunity.
McCain met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and later he and Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, were planning to meet.
There were no details immediately available about McCain’s meetings and his schedule for the day apparently remained in flux, a US official said.
McCain’s week-long trip also includes stops in Israel, Britain and France.
Ahead of the trip, McCain expressed worries that insurgents might try to influence the November general election with increased attacks in Iraq.
“Yes, I worry about it,” he said on Friday in Springfield, Pennsylvania. “And I know they pay attention, because of the intercepts we have of their communications.”
McCain said that al Qaida remains smart and adaptable despite an increase of US troops in Iraq.
“We have had great success with the surge, but to think they’re not capable of orchestrating really strong attacks ... I think is an underestimation of the enemy,” McCain said.
“We still have the most lethal explosive devices coming across the border from Iran into Iraq,” he said. “We still have suicide bombers landing at the airport in Damascus and coming into Iraq as we speak.
“So I would not be surprised if they make an attempt. I believe that we can counter most of it, as we are countering. But there will still be spikes and difficulties and challenges associated with this conflict. Otherwise, I’d be advocating that they come home,” he said.
McCain is likely to focus in Iraq on the drop in sectarian violence and US and civilian casualties since last summer.
There were few reports today of violence across Iraq.
A parked car bomb exploded in western Baghdad’s Mansour neighbourhood, killing one person and wounding two others, police officials said.
A suicide bomber in Mosul also detonated his explosive vest, killing three including himself, and wounding nine others, police said. A roadside bomb killed another person in western Mosul.
Just outside Baqouba, the capital of restive Diyala province, three people were killed in clashes between police and a faction of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, police said. In the city itself, gunmen killed a city hall employee, police said.
