President Bush and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani shake hands during a meeting June 25, 2008 in the Oval Office. (Photo credit MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
By David Nitkin
President Bush will travel to Asia after Independence Day for the annual G8 meeting, the latest part of a hectic travel schedule that has shuttled him across the globe during his last months in office.
Is he getting jet-lagged? Nah. Bush inisists he is feeling "good," he said today, answering a question intended for his guest in the Oval Office, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
The meeting was a late addition to the president's weekly schedule, having been announced yesterday. Talabani is in the United States for what published reports say is a three-week visit for medical treatment on his weight and/or his knee. (Reports give conflicting accounts.)
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., has confirmed that Talabani received treatment there, according to the Associated Press, but did not disclose the condition. Talabani, 73, has a history of health issues: he collapsed last year and was treated at the Mayo Clinic.
According to the Independent newspaper in London, Talabani's office released a quote from a recent news conference referencing the president's health.
"I don't have any health problems except my obesity and I will treat it, God willing," the Independent quoted Talabani as saying. "I will go to the USA and stay nearly three weeks to lose weight and have some rest and relaxation ... away from meetings and work."
But a little more than a week after arriving in the U.S., Talabani was in Washington for a meeting with Bush. Bush called Talabani a "friend" who has been "on the front lines" of creating a free Iraq. Talabani went further, calling Bush a "great friend."
A group of reporters and photographers was allowed to enter the Oval Office, as is customary, for pictures and to hear a statement. At the end, one reporter ventured a question: "How is your health, Mr. President? How are you feeling?"
President Talabani looked blankly. An answer instead came from President Bush. "Good, thanks," Bush said.
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Comments
I would be feeling good, too, if I took care of the Oily Corps as good as he did !! Heck, they'll probably give the whole southern half of America to him, for their snake-oil operations, a distributorship !! That should be worth millions a year. What a savvy person our President turned out to be !! No wonder he is feeling so good. It's too bad the rest of us don't feel as good !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | June 25, 2008 11:50 AM
If someone named "Talaban"-i is good enough for a "so-called democratic" Iraq, why do conservatives make such an issue of somone with "Hussein" in their name running for U.S. president? Coudn't be racism or fear-mongering, could it? Nahhhhh!
Posted by: syj | June 25, 2008 12:55 PM
Talabani and the so called Iraqi government are a joke. The only thing holding that mess together is our military. How much longer will the GOP continue this exercise in futility. We should give these Iraqi thugs a set amount of time to get their house in order and then start pulling out some of our troops. Bring the troops home. Obama 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBTA72bLV0s
Posted by: =S= | June 25, 2008 4:35 PM
Forget the physical aspect of his health...I wonder how his CONSCIENCE is...I really and truly don't think he HAS ONE!!!!
Posted by: Mary in Iowa | June 25, 2008 11:07 PM