A liberator would travel in glorius full view. A conquerer and occupier travels to the country in secrecy, hiding his presence from the population.

"Bush's trip was conducted under heavy security and a strict cloak of secrecy. People traveling with the president agreed to tell almost no one about the plans. The White House tried to avoid raising suspicion about the president's whereabouts by putting out false schedules detailing activities planned for Bush in Washington on Sunday. Though the security situation in Iraq has improved dramatically, a trip to that war zone is still considered dangerous.

"Bush's visit came after Defense Secretary Robert Gates' unannounced stop in Iraq on Saturday, at a sprawling military base in the central part of the country. Gates will be the lone Republican holdover from the Bush Cabinet in the Obama administration."

The concensus seems to be that bribing Sunni leaders has brought a measure of calm to the area for as long as they are bribed. There is a good deal of fear in anticipation of those bribes ending. That's no substitute for the political solutions which all agree are necessary for peace.

Arf