FROM THE THANKSGIVING ARCHIVES: ONE MORE FOR DINNER?:

Bush Makes Secret Thanksgiving Visit to Iraq (Steve Holland, November 27, 2003, Reuters)

President Bush secretly flew to Baghdad for Thanksgiving dinner with U.S. troops on Thursday in a bid to boost the morale of forces amid mounting casualties and political pressure at home.

In an elaborate plan to ensure his security, Bush slipped away from his Texas ranch on Wednesday night, arrived in Iraq on Thursday and spent 2-1/2 hours with the troops, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Iraq.

"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," an emotional Bush told about 600 soldiers, who were stunned to see the president at the heavily fortified Baghdad International Airport. [...]

To make the clandestine trip, Bush scrapped plans to eat a traditional turkey dinner with his wife and family. His plane swooped in for landing under cover of darkness, window shades drawn and lights dimmed to keep Bush from being a target in the perilous capital, more than six months after the government of Saddam Hussein was toppled. [...]

Without hinting at the surprise, Iraq's U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer told members of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne he was supposed to read the president's Thanksgiving address but would defer to a more senior person.

Bush became teary-eyed when he emerged to loud cheering.

"I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere," Bush said. "Thanks for inviting me to dinner."

We'd thought he'd do this when he went to the APAC conference, but that may have been too obvious.

MORE:
President Travels to Baghdad and Addresses Soldiers at Airport (BRIAN KNOWLTON, November 27, 2003, International Herald Tribune)

In a stunning mission conducted under enormous secrecy, President Bush flew into Baghdad today aboard Air Force One to share Thanksgiving dinner with United States officials and several hundred astonished American troops.

His trip � the first ever to Iraq by an American president � had been kept a matter of absolute secrecy by the White House, which had said that Mr. Bush was to spend the holiday weekend at his ranch outside Crawford, Tex.

Even his wife, Laura, and his parents, the former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, who had also come to Crawford, received only a few hours' notice of the trip, officials said later.

The mission was an extraordinary gesture, with scant precedent, and was seen as an effort by Mr. Bush to show the importance he attaches to the embattled United States-led effort to pacify and democratize Iraq.

He told the troops that the United States would not back down in the face of stern resistance in Iraq.

Text of President Bush's Remarks in Iraq (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, November 27, 2003)

Thank you. I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere. Thank you for inviting me to dinner. General Sanchez, thank you, sir, for your kind invitation and your strong leadership. Ambassador Bremer, thank you for your steadfast belief in freedom and peace. I want to thank the members of the Governing Council who are here, pleased you are joining us on our nation's great holiday, it's a chance to give thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings we receive.

I'm particularly proud to be with the 1st Armored Division, the 2nd ACR, the 82nd Airborne. I can't think of a finer group of folks to have Thanksgiving dinner with than you all. We're proud of you. Today, Americans are gathering with their loved ones to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. And this year we are especially thankful for the courage and the sacrifice of those who defend us, the men and women of the United States military.

I bring a message on behalf of America: We thank you for your service, we're proud of you, and America stands solidly behind you. Together, you and I have taken an oath to defend our country. You're honoring that oath. The United States military is doing a fantastic job. You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq, so that we don't have to face them in our own country. You're defeating Saddam's henchmen, so that the people of Iraq can live in peace and freedom.

By helping the Iraqi people become free, you're helping change a troubled and violent part of the world. By helping to build a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East, you are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful.

You're engaged in a difficult mission. Those who attack our coalition forces and kill innocent Iraqis are testing our will. They hope we will run. We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost in casualties, defeat a brutal dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins.

We will prevail. We will win because our cause is just. We will win because we will stay on the offensive. And we will win because you're part of the finest military ever assembled. And we will prevail because the Iraqis want their freedom.

Every day you see firsthand the commitment to sacrifice that the Iraqi people are making to secure their own freedom. I have a message for the Iraqi people: You have an opportunity to seize the moment and rebuild your great country, based on human dignity and freedom. The regime of Saddam Hussein is gone forever.

The United States and our coalition will help you, help you build a peaceful country so that your children can have a bright future. We'll help you find and bring to justice the people who terrorized you for years and are still killing innocent Iraqis. We will stay until the job is done. I'm confident we will succeed, because you, the Iraqi people, will show the world that you're not only courageous, but that you can govern yourself wisely and justly.

On this Thanksgiving, our nation remembers the men and women of our military, your friends and comrades who paid the ultimate price for our security and freedom. We ask for God's blessings on their families, their loved ones and their friends, and we pray for your safety and your strength, as you continue to defend America and to spread freedom.

Each one of you has answered a great call, participating in an historic moment in world history. You live by a code of honor, of service to your nation, with the safety and the security of your fellow citizens. Our military is full of the finest people on the face of the earth. I'm proud to be your commander in chief. I bring greetings from America. May God bless you all.

-'We will win,' Bush tells troops in Iraq (Richard Tomkins, 11/27/2003, UPI)
-Rodgers: 'There was explosive, euphoric reaction' (CNN, 11/27/03)

U.S. troops weren't the only ones surprised by President Bush's Thanksgiving Day visit to Iraq. The White House press corps was, too. For security reasons, Bush's trip would have been canceled if the information had leaked, so most reporters were kept in the dark.

Only about a dozen reporters who were with the president on Air Force One knew of his secret plans. CNN senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers, who is in Baghdad, learned of the president's visit after Air Force One had already left Baghdad. He joined CNN anchor Miles O'Brien to share what the troops told him of the visit.

RODGERS: We could say, not too facetiously, that the president's visit here was the second best kept secret in Iraq. The best kept secret remaining, where is Saddam Hussein? But, indeed, no one here in Iraq, in the journalism corps and for that matter most of the soldiers in Iraq, had any idea that the president was here until after the bulletin on The Associated Press crossed, and that, of course, broke the news.

But the soldiers who were in the hangar or at the dining hall with the president were told, if they wanted, they could enter a lottery, and they would have Thanksgiving dinner with the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer. So they said, what the heck, let's do it. And then the next thing you know, the president of the United States pops out from behind the curtain.

There was explosive, euphoric reaction here. These soldiers, men and women, are extraordinarily homesick, so any familiar face from home would have been welcome. And, of course, the president's their commander in chief. So all the more so.

Bush Pays Surprise Thanksgiving Visit to Troops in Iraq (Mike Allen, , November 27, 2003, Washington Post)

The president was introduced to the troops by L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, who kept the crowd off guard by saying it was time for the most senior official present to read the president's Thanksiving Proclamation.

"Is there anyone back there more senior than us?" he asked, the signal for Bush to emerge from behind a curtain and for the stunned audience to erupt in cheers, "hoo-ahs" and waves of applause. The president was wearing a jacket bearing the patch of the 1st Armored Division.

Speaking in the chow hall before helping dish up the plates, Bush included a call to the people of Iraq to "seize the moment and rebuild your great country, based on human dignity and freedom."

"The regime of Saddam Hussein is gone forever," he said. "The United States and our coalition will help you, help you build a peaceful country so that your children can have a bright future. We'll help you find and bring to justice the people who terrorized you for years and are still killing innocent Iraqis. We will stay until the job is done."

The goverrning council members with whom Bush met today were Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader who is this month's council president, Mowaffak Rubaie, a Shiite Muslim physician who returned from exile in Britain, and Raja Khozai, a Shiite who directs a maternity hospital in the southern city of Diwaniya.

Chalabi said Bush "made a very important statement" about "staying the course in Iraq and declaring in Baghdad that the United States is here to finish the job."

Rubaie said Bush remarked to the council members that "I believe in the people of Iraq. They will make democracy happen."

"It was a very powerful moment," Rubaie said. "It was a hyper-happy Eid [al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan] for us and it's a hyper-happy Thanksgiving for the Americans."

-Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad given stunning level of secrecy (AP, 11/27/03)
-Presidents Who Have Visited War Zones (History New Network, 11/26/03)

On Thanksgiving Day 2003 President Bush visited Baghdad on a surprise visit to the troops occupying Iraq. Below is a list of several other presidents who have visited war zones.

(originally posted: 11/27/03)

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 23, 2006 7:36 AM