credibility sells

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Western Iraq Wednesday, the place where U.S. troops and local tribal leaders began an effort four years ago that helped turn the tide of the Iraq war. Gates stopped in al-Anbar Province on his way to Baghdad to mark the formal end of U.S. combat operations in the country.

The secretary's military 747 jumbo jet touched down at al-Asad Air Base shortly after sunrise - a moment reminiscent of his last visit here, when he came in on a military combat jet and was joined by then-President George W. Bush in his 747, known as Air Force One.

At that time, almost exactly three years ago, Mr. Bush and Gates were marking the Anbar Awakening, the decision by local tribal leaders to reject al-Qaida and join forces with the U.S. Marines, who had been struggling to establish security in the province. Wednesday, he was asked whether, with the new "advise and assist" mission, the United States is still at war in the country.

"No, I would say we're not," he said. "Combat operations have ceased. We're still going to work with the Iraqis on counterterrorism. We are still doing a lot of training and advising and assisting. That's what this brigade is all about. So, I would say we have moved into the final phase of our engagement in Iraq."

Gates says events in Ramadi played a key role in turning around the security situation in Iraq.

"Visiting Ramadi today is especially meaningful for me and my staff," he said. "We have very personal and enduring connections to this city and this province. Many of us, like many of you, were touched first-hand by the terrible violence that not long ago consumed this area."

Former U.S. President George W. Bush was a "true idealist" who displayed "genuine integrity and political courage," former British prime minister Tony Blair reveals in his memoirs.

Detailing the close professional and personal relationship which developed between the two leaders in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks in the U.S. and during the build-up to the Iraq war in 2003, Blair writes that Bush was "very smart" while having "immense simplicity in how he saw the world."

"Right or wrong, it led to decisive leadership... he sincerely believed in spreading freedom and democracy," he writes in "A Journey;" which hit book stores in the UK on Wednesday.

But Blair, whose premiership overlapped the presidencies of Bush and Bill Clinton, reserves his warmest words for Bush's Democratic predecessor, describing him as a "political soulmate" and "the most formidable politician I had ever encountered." He also defends Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

By contrast, Blair describes an initially awkward relationship with Bush when the pair first met at Camp David in February 2001, disagreeing on most social issues as well as being "poles apart" on climate change.

"We got on well but fairly gingerly.... the fact remained he was conservative and I was progressive." But, Bush had a great sense of humor and was "self-effacing and self-deprecatory in an attractive way," Blair says.

Blair said the key to Bush's political success was his "appeal as a normal guy."

"You might not agree with him, but if you're a voter, you would never think you would be uncomfortable or feel inadequate if you met him socially; you would think he'd be nice and easy with you," he writes.

Bush had also displayed the most integrity of almost anyone he had met in politics, Blair says.

Hurricane Earl made its presence known Wednesday despite being hundreds of miles from the East Coast of the U.S., menacing swimmers with dangerous rip currents and large swells as forecasters expanded a hurricane watch northward from North Carolina into coastal Virginia.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for Ocracoke Island, on North Carolina's Outer Banks, and Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Dare County Emergency Management officials issued a mandatory evacuation order Wednesday for all visitors to Hatteras Island, effective immediately.

Earl lost some of its punch early Wednesday and was downgraded to a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (200 kph). However, it was still a major hurricane, and forecasters said more fluctuations in intensity were possible in the next 48 hours. Tracking maps show Earl approaching the North Carolina coast early Friday as a Category 3 storm.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Earl was located about 180 miles (800 kilometers) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving northwest at about 16 mph (25 kph).

A hurricane watch, already in effect for portions of the North Carolina coast, was extended northward early Wednesday and was in effect from Surf City, North Carolina, to Virginia's Parramore Island, including the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds.