44, Day 78: One Last Stop

An ongoing log of the daily activities of the 44th president of the United States during his first 100 days:

-President Obama made a surprise stop today in Iraq on his way home to the United States. "You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country," Obama said to US troops, many of whom he's said he wants to bring home in the next 18 months. "That is an extraordinary achievement."

-Before his stop in Iraq, he finished up a weeklong foreign tour in Turkey. Obama held a town hall meeting with students in Istanbul and repeated his support for a Palestinian state. "I believe that peace in the Middle East is possible. I think it will be based on two states side by side," Obama said.

-White House personnel watch: Kal Penn, aka Kumar in the Harold and Kumar movie franchise, is taking a break from acting and taking a job with the Obama administration. Penn, known for taking a dance with a big bag of weed in the hilarious pro-stoner flicks, will become associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. Penn's last acting role was on the show House, where his character stunned audiences Monday night by committing suicide.

by J. Jennings Moss

Sources: The White House, New York Daily News, and the Associated Press.