There were already a few hundred U.S. troops stationed around Samarra before the attack, though they rarely entered the shrine's perimeter leaving its protection to Iraqi forces. After making his request Al-Maliki traveled to Samarra accompanied by U.S. troops under Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno to visit the ruins of the mosque. General Petraeus later stated that they were also "helping to move reinforcements to Samarra from the Iraqi national police." U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver stated that the US military in Iraq is "obviously very concerned about this and our primary goal is to prevent any violence of the kind that broke out after the last bombing." Presidential spokesman Tony Snow said "there will be aggressive outreach on all sides" by American officials to try to head off any further violence.