There were four visiting Congressmen at the US Embassy in Baghdad, but the one standing closest to me also had a friendly smile.

“So, which one are you?” I asked.

“I’m Barack, pleased to meet you,” said Barack Obama, shaking my hand as I cringed in embarrassment at my obvious ignorance.

That was January 7, 2006, when the senator first visited Iraq on a fact-finding mission that attracted minimal publicity and zero fanfare.

Fast forward two and a half years and the contrast is staggering, with newspapers and television channels across the world fixated on his return this morning.

Details of Mr Obama’s trip, where he will go and who he will meet are being kept tightly secret for security reasons, leaving journalists scrambling for any snippet of information.

In addition, access to the presidential hopeful will be tightly controlled, making the chances of my eliciting a second handshake particularly slim.

Everything was so much easier the first time around.

An email appeared in my inbox inviting members of the press in Baghdad to meet Mr Obama as well as fellow Congressmen Evan Bayh and Harold Ford of the Democratic Party and Republican senator Kit Bond.

As a British reporter with scant knowledge of US domestic politics, I did not recognise any of the names but decided to go along all the same.

About five other journalists, all American, also showed up. To my surprise, they were excited about the event, particularly the chance to meet this Mr Obama.

“He’s going to be the next President of the United States,” predicted one, while the rest nodded in agreement as we were ushered into a meeting room at the Embassy occupied by a long, wooden table surrounded by large, cushioned chairs.

The Congressmen, who were on a two-day trip to Iraq, had already met various Iraqi and US officials. They were also due to visit some military bases the next morning before heading off elsewhere in the region as part of a Middle East tour.

Each talked about his impressions of the situation, which at the time was dire. Earlier that same day, US journalist Jill Caroll had been kidnapped at gunpoint by Sunni Arab insurgents, while sectarian violence was also mounting.

The message the group conveyed was that Congress was unlikely to keep pouring money into Iraq unless it sees more signs of progress in the next six months such as the formation of a unified Government.

Mr Obama likened aid to Iraq to pouring water into a bucket full of holes.

"The analogy I would use is that it is going to be hard to convince American taxpayers to pour water into a leaky bucket," he said.

Thirty months later, much has changed both for Iraq and for Mr Obama. It remains to be seen what new impressions the Illinois senator will form.

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