Bush slipped out of a side door of the White House for the furtive trip that was aimed at bolstering his position for not drawing down troops from Iraq. During six hours on the ground here, the president was to meet with Army Gen. David Petreaus and other military commanders and Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, before holding a session with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and members of his central government.

Afterward, Bush was to meet with Sunni tribal leaders whose cooperation has made Anbar Province, a former al-Qaeda stronghold, significantly safer during the past year.

Aides said Bush would prod Maliki and other Shiite national leaders to support the local Sunni officials, whom the White House has praised for fostering political reconciliation that has proved elusive in most other parts of Iraq. Later, Bush was to make short remarks to about 750 U.S. troops and other guests.

"The president felt this is something he had to do in order to put himself in a position to make some important decisions," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said of the visit."This will be the last big gathering of the president's advisers and Iraqi leaders before the president makes his decisions on the way forward," said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon spokesperson. "He's assembled his war council, and they are all convening with Iraqi leaders to discuss the way forward."

Several of Bush's top advisers believe that the president's view of postwar Iraq was significantly affected by his meeting with three Iraqi exiles in the Oval Office several months before the 2003 invasion, Draper reports.

He writes that all three exiles agreed without qualification that "Iraq would greet American forces with enthusiasm. Ethnic and religious tensions would dissolve with the collapse of Saddam's regime. And democracy would spring forth with little effort -- particularly in light of Bush's commitment to rebuild the country."