Posted on 11/27/2003 9:42:19 AM PST by 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.
Some idiot on another thread said something about Johnson going to Vietnam. Johnson went to Saigon in December '67, before Tet and before shoulder fired SAM's. Did he visit Saigon during or after the '68 Tet offensive? Think not.
Dubya's taken a while to win me over, but he's got guts! I shouted to all our Thanksgiving guests to check out the report.
Hail to the Chief!!!
Eleanor Clift was on Fox News and said that Hillary was in Iraq. Did anyone hear that?
I need a Dramamine and an Alka Selzer after visiting that site. They have a lot of gall accusing conservatives of hate speech when they participate in a site like that. They actually accuse him of cowardice for going in under high security!!
GO PRESIDENT BUSH!!!
God Bless You, Mr. President! We love you, your troops love you.
sw
David has a SON there I believe. He is almost as happy and proud as I am. This will inspire many BUT NEVER as much as a MILITARY person. God Bless GW and our brave TROOPS!!
President G.W.Bush & Laura Bush are among those whom I wish to give thanks.
Where might we be without him?
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GW BUSH!!!!!
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