Bush wraps up trip to war zones

In Kabul, the U.S. leader warns of a long struggle ahead to restore stability seven years after ordering troops into Afghanistan.

U.S. President George W. Bush got a firsthand look yesterday at the deteriorating situation in the seven-year-old Afghanistan war, as his administration prepares to hand over a strategy overhaul to his successor including significantly increasing the troop presence.

Bush landed in pre-dawn darkness after an equally secretive stop in Iraq, where an angry Iraqi reporter threw two shoes at him in a powerfully symbolic indication of lingering hostility there toward the outgoing U.S. leader.

The president's visit to the two countries which, will arguably most define his legacy, comes just over a month before he hands the keys of the White House to his successor Barack Obama on Jan. 20.

Bush landed at Bagram Air Base near Kabul, virtually all lights on his Air Force One official plane turned off as part of a thick shroud of secrecy to ensure his safety. After addressing hundreds of U.S. troops at the base, he flew by Blackhawk helicopter to Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

Bush acknowledged the difficulty of restoring peace to Afghanistan, where 70,000 foreign troops are fighting an insurgency that has grown increasingly violent since a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.

"This is going to be a long struggle," he told a joint news conference with Karzai at the presidential palace. "Ideological struggles take time."

"Are there difficult days ahead?" he asked. "Absolutely. But are the conditions a lot better today in Afghanistan than they were in 2001? Unquestionably, undoubtedly they're better."

This year has been the bloodiest for foreign forces here since the Taliban fell, and Gen. David McKiernan, the top commander, has asked for more than 20,000 extra U.S. soldiers to counter rising violence.

Karzai said Afghanistan was grateful for the help, saying its people "don't want to be a burden on the international community for ever."

Asked about a possible timetable for a withdrawal of foreign troops, Karzai indicated now was not the time to talk about pulling out.

Troops level
"Afghanistan will not allow the international community leaving before we are fully on our feet, before we are strong enough to defend our country, before we are powerful enough to have a good economy," he said, joking "and before we have taken from President Bush and the next administration billions and billions of more dollars. No way!"

Bush earlier warned that the ramp-up in troop levels would inevitably lead to increased violence.

"You'll see violence tick up," he told reporters on Air Force One en route here, drawing a comparison with the "surge" that helped bring violence down in Iraq and paved the way for some progress toward reconciliation.

"The degree of difficulty in Afghanistan is high," he said. "Nevertheless, the mission is essential."

After their Iraqi colleague’s farewell ’gift’ to the U.S. president, the Afghan journalists kept their shoes on in a press conference in Kabul, reported The Associated Press.

A day after an Iraqi reporter hurled a pair of shoes at Bush, the American leader again held a news conference before a group of reporters. Some of the reporters - a collegial bunch that sees one another several times a week - egged on one of their colleagues, jokingly trying to pressure the reporter into taking off his shoe and hurling it once the U.S. president arrived. The news conference later concluded with no footgear thrown. Afghan officials, however, appeared concerned the press would not show sufficient respect to the American president.

After a brief refueling stop in England, Bush headed back to the United States. The mixed reactions to Bush in both countries emphasized the uncertain situations Bush is leaving behind in the region.