President flies into Baghdad's Missile Alley - Too risky?

A big surprise yesterday was President Bush’s pop-in first-ever flight to Baghdad, for a Thanksgiving Day unexpected visit with U.S. troops.  Risky, but it worked.

 

While it was a good impression, it was chancy flying the Commander in Chief to the same airport (Baghdad Int’l) where a cargo plane had been hit by a missile and lost an engine just a week before.

 

Iraqis let it happen once, but I doubt they’d be fooled a second time>OR they could just get lucky -- so I hope he doesn’t do another one before next election -- or there could be a sudden change in players. This visit was only 2 ½ hours long, which tells you how secure the President’s security felt during the visit – imagine what it’s like for everyone else who has to stay there. Imagine the impression if Iraqi insurgents had shot down Air Force One and killed the President, and it’s impact on the future.

 

The impact would have been tragic for the U.S. and a huge boost for the huge legion of Saddam loyalists with nothing to lose who create the mayhem and shoot the missiles.

 

It would also mean suddenly the President was Dick Cheney, who’s had at least 4 heart operations and a new V-P running the GOP ticket versus the Democrat nominee in Nov. 04.

 

It’s one thing to risk an international negotiator and USAF Aux pilot like myself and just my crew’s butt flying a not so fast blimp-like 747 into Baghdad’s missile alley -- and quite another if I'm flying in as President --