PRESIDENT BUSH SHOE ATTACK

US President George W Bush is in Afghanistan for talks with President Hamid Karzai, after surviving a shoe attack in Iraq. Skip related content
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Mr Bush also met with US troops spearheading the fight against a resurgent Taliban, after his surprise trip on Sunday to farewell troops in Iraq.

He received a farewell gift in Baghdad by an Iraqi journalist who shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," and hurled his shoes at Mr Bush during a news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East.

One of the shoes sailed over the president's head and slammed into the wall behind him and he had to duck to miss the other one.

"It's like going to a political rally and have people yell at you. It's a way for people to draw attention," Mr Bush said. "I don't know what the guy's cause was. I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."

The journalist was leapt on by Iraqi security officials and US secret service agents and dragged from the room screaming and struggling.

On his visit to Afghanistan, Mr Bush said, "I told the president you can count on the United States. Just like you've been able to count on this administration, you will be able to count on the next administration as well."

After Air Force One touched down at Bagram air base outside Kabul under heavy security, Mr Bush strode across the tarmac and into a giant tent where hundreds of troops greeted him with raucous cheers as he thanked them for their service.

"I am confident we will succeed in Afghanistan because our cause is just," he told them.

Mr Bush, who has already ordered a troop increase in Afghanistan, appeared to lend tacit support to President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to increase troop levels even more after he takes office on January 20.

"I want him to succeed, I want him to do well," Mr Bush said of Mr Obama. "I'd expect you'll see more US troops here as quickly as possible in parts of the country that are being challenged by the Taliban."

Mr Obama has promised to make Afghanistan a higher priority, saying the Bush administration has been too distracted by the unpopular Iraq war to pay Afghanistan the attention it deserves.