Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan

By TERENCE HUNT

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan – President Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday, flying here secretly to support its fledging government in the face of rising violence from al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

Bush made a detour from a trip to India for a five-hour visit here that was not announced officially until Air Force One landed at this sprawling military base north of Kabul.

The White House wanted to conceal Bush’s presence to reduce the risk of any attempt on his life. But word of his visit leaked shortly before he landed.

From Bagram, Bush was to go to the presidential place in Kabul for a meeting Hamid Karzai, the U.S.-backed leader.

The president also was to preside over a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the U.S. Embassy. Before leaving Afghanistan, Bush was to get a pep talk to troops back at Bagram Air Base.

It was Bush’s second visit to a war front. His first was a secret trip to have Thanksgiving Dinner in 2003 with U.S. troops in Iraq.

Speaking of secrecy concerns, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said, "There are security precautions that were taken and we are confident in the security precautions that have been taken. One of those was not informing you of the trip until now."

The United States invaded Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, to unseat the Taliban regime that harbored Osma bin-Laden and his terrorist training camps.

Despite intense manhunts and a multimillion dollar reward, bin-Laden remains at large, believed to be in hiding in the rugged border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The president and his wife Laura stepped off Air Force One under a bright, sunny sky against a background of snowcapped mountains. Secret Service agents were deployed around the plane with automatic weapons.

There are about 19,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said the number will be reduced to about 16,000 by summer.

It was Bush’s first trip to Afghanistan, but Vice President Dick Cheney has been here.

Bush flew into Afghanistan on what was supposed to have been a flight to India, where tens of thousands gathered in New Delhi to protest his visit.

The United States and India were bargaining over the terms of a landmark nuclear agreement even as Bush made his way to New Delhi for the first visit there of his presidency.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said sticking points remained in the way of an agreement and singled out one particularly contentious subject.

"The one thing that is absolutely necessary is that any agreement would assure that once India has decided to put a reactor under safeguard that it remain permanently under safeguard," she said.

Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley briefed reporters on Air Force One as Bush flew from Washington to a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland.

The provision Rice cited would prevent India from transferring a reactor from civilian to military status and thus exempting it from international inspections.

Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed an agreement in July that would provide India with nuclear fuel for the country’s booming but energy-starved economy. But the pact, which faces some political opposition in both countries, hinges on determining how to separate India’s civilian and military nuclear facilities.

Rice said she was uncertain whether there would be an agreement during Bush’s trip but said the success or failure of his visit wouldn’t be determined by that. "We’re still working on it," she said. "Obviously it would be an important breakthrough" for the United States and India.

"We very much would like to have a deal," she said. "We are continuing to work on it." She expressed confidence that if no deal results from this trip, the U.S. and would get one at a later date.

During the refueling stop, Bush shook hands and posed for pictures with U.S. Marines on their way to Kuwait. The young men, in camouflage uniforms, lined up to shake hands with the commander in chief.

Rice said that India’s neighbor and nuclear rival, Pakistan, would not qualify for the same sort of nuclear treatment as New Delhi. "Pakistan is not in the same place as India," Rice said. "I think everybody understands that."

The United States says India has an unblemished record on nuclear proliferation and has not sold its technology to any outsiders. Pakistan, on the other hand, has acknowledged it has secretly sold nuclear technology to a number of countries.