Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

mywaynews via Drudge Report ^ | 11/27/2003 | TERENCE HUNT

[PeteFromMontana]

Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq Email this Story

Nov 27, 12:27 PM (ET)

By TERENCE HUNT

(AP) U.S. Army Specialist Thomas Huffstatler, left standing, of Summit Ark., standing, Sgt. Stephen... Full Image

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - President Bush made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to American troops in Baghdad Thursday, flying secretly to violence-scarred Iraq to thank U.S. forces for serving there. It was the first trip ever by an American president to Iraq - a mission tense with concern about his safety.

"You are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful," Bush told some 600 soldiers who were stunned and delighted by his appearance.

The president's plane - its lights darkened and windows closed to minimzie chances of making it a target - landed under a crescent moon at Bagdad International Airport.

Bush flew in on the plane he most often uses, and White House officials went to extraordinary lengths to keep the trip a secret, fearing its disclosure would prompt terrorist attempts to kill him.

The news of Bush's trip was not released until he was in the air on the way back to the United States. "If this breaks while we're in the air we're turning around," White House communications director Dan Bartlett told reporters on the flight to Baghdad.

Security fears were heightened by an attack last Saturday in which a missile struck a DHL cargo plane, forcing it to make an emergency landing at the airport with its wing aflame.

Bush spent only about two hours on the ground, limiting his visit to the airport dinner with U.S. forces. The troops had been told that the VIP guests would be L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq.

In a ruse staged in the name of security, the White House had put out word that Bush would be spending Thanksgiving at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, with his wife, Laura, his parents and other family members. Even the dinner menu was announced.

Instead, Bush slipped away from his home without notice Wednesday evening and flew to Washington to pick up aides and a handful of reporters sworn to secrecy. Plans called for the trip to be abandoned if word had leaked out in advance.

Within the White House only a handful of senior aides knew about the trip, officials said.

Security fears were underscored by regular attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq. More than five dozen U.S. troops were killed by hostile fire in November, more than any other month since the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1. Early this week, a U.S. military official, Col. William Darley, said attacks peaked at more than 40 per day about two weeks ago and have since dropped to about 30 per day.

The violence persisted Thursday as the president was en route here.

Insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Italian mission in Baghdad, damaging the building but causing no injuries, the U.S. military said. Also, a U.S. military convoy came under attack on the main highway west of Baghdad near the town of Abu Ghraib, witnesses said. And in the northern city of Mosul, unidentified gunmen shot dead an Iraqi police sergeant, said Brig. Gen. Muwaffaq Mohammed.

Since operations began, nearly 300 U.S. service members have died of hostile action, including 183 since May 1 when Bush declared an end to major fighting.

Bush's father visited U.S. troops at a desert outpost in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day 1990, in the runup to the Gulf War. "We won't pull punches. We are not here on some exercise. And we're not walking away until our mission is done, until the invader is out of Kuwait," he told the troops. At one p oint, he climbed into a bunker to chat with troops.

Bush's father shared lunch with U.S. troops 65 miles from Kuwait, occupied at the time by Saddam Hussein's forces. George H.W. Bush had been the first U.S. president to visit a front-line area since President Nixon went to Vietnam in 1969.

[ladyinred]

What gives a liberal "journalist" the right to say the President can't use pictures of him with the troops in Iraq during his campaign? Who do these people think they are? Do we think for one minute Clinton wouldn't have? Would they have said one lousy negative word if he had?

[Stars N Stripes]

Ha ha ha ha ha .... good one.

[chiller]

George's Texas Two Stuff

I've been informed that Marquee and Blink may or may not show depending on your browser.

[thesummerwind]

Oh, now you've done it. Giving her ideas. Watch her try to claim she was part of the ruse. She would never provide cover for W....but now that it's done....

Great point, she just may do that. She'll distort anything.

Afterall, she was born six years before Mt. Everest. Sir Edmund was just an obscure beekeeper in New Zealand when she was named after him. She is truly amazing. (not)

[Roberts]

For all the talk about our President being stupid and phony (which strikes me as "dissent" stated in a mean-spirited way), I personally find him to be as sincere and thoughtful as any we've had.

[desertcry]

Where might we be without him? A world in complete chaos, without Christians, Hindus, Buddhist, or even Atheists, a world populated and ruled only by radical islamists.

[international american]

This is "Dubya's" finest moment. I really respect this President!! The true Ronald Reagan Jr. Godspeed Mr. President!!
IA

[FairOpinion]

"And it will bump his approval rating bigtime, I'm sure."

===

Bush did it for the troops and to also reassure the Iraqi people, but it surely isn't hurting him at home, because it is being covered -- at least by FoxNews -- quite well on Thanksgiving, normally a slow newsday.

The whole visit was an excellent idea -- and it was executed flawlessly, as everything else Bush does.

I bet the turkey tastes better for Republicans and the Dems just lost their appetite. ;)

[thesummerwind]

WELCOME TO FREEREPUBLIC!!!!

Thank you. I honestly love this place. There are a great many witty, wise, and sincere folks with whom to speak. I've been reading here for years, and the people here are of a very, very high caliber. And, this is a GREAT, GREAT day to enter. BTW, Hillary is choking on a drumstick right about now!

Thanks again!

[muggs]

Thanks for confirming what I thought I saw. I was on a treadmill at the gym when I saw that come on the TV in front of me. I quickly looked away so that I didn't barf. Last week I was using the treadmill and reading the closed caption on the tv and read a joke that someone made about Ted Kennedy. I had just taken a large drink of water and ended up spraying it all over the place. I didn't want to humiliate myself twice in two weeks.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Welcome to FR! It's a great day!

[thesummerwind]

Welcome Home to The FR! :O)

FR is God's Country. Thanks.

I'm smelling that bird up in the kitchen!

[thesummerwind]

HTML Bootcamp (or Wow, how did they do that?) http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a1e6b7134bf.htm

That's great. Much thanks, that willl be very helpful.

[thesummerwind]

LOL!

[FreeReign]

He did not "upstage" anyone. To upstage someone that has to be your intent. He was just doing what he should have done. There is an old saying, the people that say things about other people are the ones you most have to look out for. Clift sees things through these glasses and thinks eveyone else is the same way. Hey, Elanor, did it ever occur to you that some people just do what they think is the right thing to do?

Very well said. Yes I bet too that Elenor wouldn't have a clue about what you just said.

[thesummerwind]

That is ONE FINE PLATTER.

New York Times caption to the picture - President Takes Last Turkey From Hungry Troops

[thesummerwind]

NYT- Bush Clandestinely Ruins Serenity of Troops' Thanksgiving Holiday

[JoJo Gunn]

Paints a thousand words, don't it?

[illiac]

We know that they would not have said a word....

[desertcry]

Only a recess appointment .... I don't think W will do any, why should W let the demonrats off the hook. Their continued filibusters of very highly qualified members of the minority appointments, highlights the hypocracy of the liberal demonrats. The GOP will continue to make this memories fresh in the minds of the Blacks, the Hispanics and the Women until Nov. 2004. President GWB has got the liberal demonrats in a corner, there is no escape.