Who knew in advance?

We were surprised to find this in the Yahoo slideshow about Bush's Baghdad visit:

Iraqi Governing Counsel member Ahmad Chalabi sits in the audience as he awaits the arrival of President Bush (news - web sites) at Baghdad International Airport Thursday, Nov. 27, 2003, in Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites). Bush paid a surprise Thanksgiving day visit to American troops in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

It's a minor point, but did Chalabi know more about the visit than even some Secret Service agents?

UPDATE: According to Juan Cole:

It turns out that President George W. Bush did meet on Thursday with four members of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council. All 24 had been invited to a Thanksgiving Day event at the Baghdad Airport, but they were not told the nature of the event. So, only four showed up.

So maybe that explains it.

posted by Quiddity at 11/28/2003 01:38:00 AM