AL-ASAD AIR BASE (Iraq): President George W Bush paid a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday for a 'war council' meeting ahead of a crucial report to Congress on Washington's strategy in the war-torn nation.
The trip coincided with the withdrawal of British troops from their last base in the southern city of Basra amid tensions between Washington and its top ally Britain over their policy in Iraq.
"This is the last big gathering of the president's military advisors and the Iraqi leadership before the president decides on the way forward," said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman.
The White House is to make a formal report to Congress by September 15 aimed at convincing US lawmakers to continue funding the Iraq war, four and a half bloody years since the US-led invasion of 2003.
Bush arrived at the desert air base of Al-Asad in the restive western province of Anbar along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
Waiting for him were US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral William Fallon, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, and General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq.
"He's assembled essentially his war council and they are all meeting with Iraqi leaders to discuss the way forward," Morrell said.
It was Bush's first visit to Iraq since June 2006, which followed the killing by US forces of the then leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and his third since the invasion.
He is due to meet Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, under fire at home and abroad for failing to bring stability to Iraq, and other top officials as well as tribal sheikhs who have recently joined the fight against Al-Qaeda.
The conclave comes just days before Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker go before a sceptical Congress to report on whether a buildup in US forces has succeeded in setting the conditions for political reconciliation.
Opposition Democrats who control the House of Representatives and Senate have been pushing for months to force a deadline for US troops to leave.
