President George W. Bush paid a surprise visit to Al-Asad airbase in Anbar province on 3 September 2007 before flying to Sydney for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The stop came days ahead of a scheduled congressional briefing by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the progress of the military surge.
At the base, Bush met with Petraeus, Crocker, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Bush said both officials told him that continued gains in Anbar could allow Washington to maintain current security levels with a smaller US troop presence, though he cited no timeline or figures.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and national security adviser Stephen Hadley accompanied the president. Gates told ABC News that Bush would decide on troop levels "fairly shortly" after Petraeus and Crocker appeared before Congress. The White House was due to submit a formal progress report to lawmakers by 15 September.
The trip coincided with a British withdrawal from their last base in Basra. More than 3,700 US service members had died in the conflict. Bush planned to leave Sydney early to be back in Washington for the congressional hearings.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2007, in its own words.