Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will travel to Iraq early next week to visit U.S. troops for the first time as governor, communications director Matt David told The Bee.
Schwarzenegger previously visited troops on United Service Organizations-sponsored tours in 2002 to Bosnia to preview his movie, "Collateral Damage," as well as in 2003 to Iraq to show "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."
"He's been wanting to visit the troops for the last few years but hasn't had the opportunity to," David said. "He thought now would be a good time to make a short trip over there."
The governor will be in the Middle East for a couple of days, David said. Asked whether Schwarzenegger planned to make any other stops, David said it was possible but that the governor had no further plans at this point. He said he could not provide more specifics for security reasons.
The California Highway Patrol will provide security for the governor in Iraq. But the state does not disclose how much CHP spends on Schwarzenegger for security reasons, according to spokeswoman Fran Clader.
In 2004, Schwarzenegger visited Israel, Jordan and Germany in a four-day overseas tour. He met with political leaders and embassy workers in Israel, had lunch with King Abdullah in Jordan and then visited troops wounded in Iraq at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
The governor is considering another visit to Israel during this trip, sources said.
With the lieutenant governor seat vacant for the first time in Schwarzenegger's tenure, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is in line to serve as acting governor when Schwarzenegger leaves the state.
Schwarzenegger said Wednesday in a Veterans Day address in Los Angeles that nearly one in nine U.S. troops comes from California.
The governor has not said much on Iraq this year, but in 2007 he parsed his own views on the war there. That year, he supported a timeline for troop withdrawal but also warned that a public authorization of withdrawal may not be wise because it could send a "signal to the enemy." He also supported President George W. Bush's increase of troops to Iraq that year.
Schwarzenegger vetoed Democratic-backed legislation in 2007 that would have placed an advisory measure on the ballot asking voters whether they wanted to withdraw troops from Iraq.
"The decision to engage in or withdraw troops from war is a federal issue, not a state issue," Schwarzenegger said in a statement at the time. "Placing a non-binding resolution on Iraq on the (presidential primary) ballot, when it carries no weight or authority, would only further divide voters and shift attention from other critical issues that must be addressed."
Torey Van Oot and the Bee Capitol Bureau report on the people and politics of California government. Get 
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