President Bush in Baghdad for Thanksgiving (2003)

President Bush wanted to boost the spirits of our fighting men and women in Iraq, so he risked his life, as well as the lives of everyone around him in making this trip. Whether it was worth the risk is something that we will never know. The fact is that you cant prove a negative, nor can you go back in time and see how something would have turned out if you did it a different way.
Jbranstetter04


Bush makes surprise visit to Iraq for Thanksgiving holiday
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY

President Bush, traveling under extraordinary secrecy to ensure his safety, made a stunning Thanksgiving visit to American troops in Baghdad Thursday.

He shared a holiday dinner with U.S. troops in a military mess hall at Baghdad International Airport. "I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere," he said. "I can't think of a finer group of folks to have Thanksgiving dinner with than you all."

Earlier, Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, told troops the most senior official present should read Bush's Thanksgiving proclamation. He glanced at a curtained-off area and asked, "Is there anybody back there who's more senior than us?"

Bush, wearing a military jacket, strode out as troops leapt to their feet and cheered. The president's eyes were moist with tears.
"We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins," Bush told about 600 soldiers, most of them from the Army's 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne.
"I bring a message on behalf of America: We thank you for your service, we are proud of you, and America stands solidly behind you," he said.
Because of security concerns, Bush did not leave the Baghdad airport, where he remained for two and a half hours. Air Force One, a 747 armed with top-secret anti-missile capability, landed with its lights darkened and window shades closed to minimize chances of making it a target.
Less than a week ago, a DHL cargo plane was hit by a surface to air missile while leaving the Baghdad Airport and had to make an emergency landing.
Bush said with confidence that measures had been taken to ensure his safety and that of others.
News of the trip was not made public until after Air Force One was back in the air, headed for the United States. White House officials had said he would be at the ranch with his family. Bush's parents, former president George Bush and Barbara Bush, were not told of the trip. First lady Laura Bush, preparing a Thanksgiving Day dinner, learned about the trip over the past few weeks.
"He's got to win in '04. No one else can prosecute this war like he can," said Army Capt. John Morrison from Butler County, Pa. Said PFC1 Kyle Crittenden of Humboldt County, Calif.: "I'm proud to serve in his Army."
The first visit by a U.S. president to Iraq was a public-relations coup meant to boost the morale of troops who have faced long deployments and to demonstrate that the security situation there has improved. Bush also met with members of Iraq's Governing Council.
"Risk also brings rewards," said retired Air Force lieutenant general Tom McInerney. "It sends a signal to the troops and to the American people."
The trip took about 30 hours, 27 of them in the air. A White House official said Bush had been talking about going to Iraq for weeks, and the decision was made Wednesday in a conference call with Vice President Dick Cheney and top White House officials.
Contributing: Steven Komarow in Baghdad, Dave Moniz in Washington, the Associated Press
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-11-27-bush-iraq_x.htm

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• president
• george
• bush
• Baghdad
• iraq
• thanksgiving
• 2003
• visits
• the
• troops
• meal

[Ghstwn]

The video had absoulutly no connection to his Thanksgiving visit. Thanks for misleading the viewer, and inserting an intire article as a discription. You just don't get it as far as youtube do you.

[jbranstetter04]

@Ghstwn Please explain to me further.

[forestinfullbloom]

Bush was great!!! We in India love him.

[jbranstetter04]

@forestinfullbloom What is it that you liked about him?

[TheNikkonish]

@jbranstetter04 probably the fact that he behaved like a president and not a whiny little bitch.

[jbranstetter04]

@TheNikkonish I should make a list of the attacks that our very presidential President has made on companies, organizations, and individuals. It would be a long list and most people would hardly believe that a President of "all the people" would do such a thing. I will now make a list like the one stated above for President Bush. There it is. It is below. See it? Of course not, because he didn't do it. He was very Presidential. Lot of things I didn't like about him, but he had class.

[MrGrumpyOldMan]

Thank You George Bush for showing the world what a real president is like, for keeping America safe, for freeing the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator!! thank you American troops for your sacrifices you have made even though the main stream media was and is against you.

[USA4July1776]

That was epic. I was there, and lost my shit when I saw the Commander-in-Chief. He served me turkey.

[bubbalouification]

The uploader is an asshat who doesn't have the balls to go to Iraq, so he slanders those who do. Pussy.

[JMcH]

George W. Bush flies into war zones.

Barack Hussein Obama bows to foreign kings.

Bush has guts.

Obama is gutless.

[historiachibcha1]

WHAT A BRAVE ACT, TO LAND IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR ZONE... SHOWS THE GREAT LEADERSHIP HE HAD.

[danieljh]

100% CROOK AND LIAR. WAR MONGER... FREEDOM USURPER...CONSTITUTION HATER. GW BUSH.

[iamthe3rd]

While I think I overestimated the extent to which the president's cabinet members and advisors could maybe deem it to be too risky to let the president do something like this, there had to have been a few of them telling him not to do this if it really was as dangerous as this video indicates.

[Isuckatpaintball2]

@unconnfan101 listen to details obama wants to retire the shuttle and go to the moon and mars

[MegaELECTRICEYE]

@HopeRanchFBS India should like Bush. He did help to creat Jobs for India.