Bush said he was “looking for a meal”

WASHINGTON, November 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a surprise, short trip arranged under strict secrecy, U.S. President George W. Bush joined 600 troops for an emotional Thanksgiving dinner in Iraq and was headed back to the United States Friday, November 28.

The U.S. President’s lightning visit aimed to boost troops' dwindling morale on a key U.S. holiday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The trip - 30 hours from start to finish - was kept secret until Bush left Baghdad due to security concerns, according to the BBC Online news service.

News of the visit was not even released until Air Force One had already left, for fear of the sort of missile fire that forced an emergency landing by a DHL civilian cargo jet last week.

Troops of the 1st Armored Division which patrols the area around the Iraqi capital leapt to their feet, threw their arms in the air and cheered when the surprise guest arrived at their U.S. holiday feast Thursday.

"I was looking for a warm meal somewhere, thanks for inviting me to dinner," said the U.S. commander in chief, wearing a blue shirt and a gray army bomber jacket and with his eyes moist, to deafening applause from the troops.

"I can't think of a finer group of folks to be having Thanksgiving dinner with," Bush, with brightly colored military standards behind him, told the soldiers from the 1st Armored and 82nd Airborne divisions and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in a huge hangar-like mess hall at Baghdad airport.

"I bring a message on behalf of America, we thank you for your service," he told the troops, who have come under regular attack during the persistent insurgency that has dogged the U.S.-led occupation for the past seven months.

The U.S. President went to Iraq, delivering a defiant message to insurgents who have peppered the coalition military with guerrilla attacks, causing more deaths in action since he declared major combat over on May 1, than in the preceding six-week invasion.

"We didn't charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, and 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 cautioned.

"We will prevail. We will win because our cause is just... We will win because you're part of the finest military ever assembled. We will prevail because the Iraqis want their freedom," Bush said.

"I have a message for the Iraqi people," he added. "You have the opportunity to seize the moment and rebuild your great country... The regime of Saddam Hussein is gone forever."

During his brief visit to Iraq, Bush also met with members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, some of whom said later that Bush had expressed willingness to change his administration's transition plan.

The Washington Post Friday said that in an attempt to appease Iraq's top Shiite scholar, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Washington was now considering holding elections for a provisional Iraqi government, rather than have its members selected by regional caucuses, a plan which Sistani reportedly rejected.

Bush also had a message of support for his troops, far from their families and loved ones on the main U.S. holiday.

"We are proud of you. America stands solidly behind you," he said. "You're defeating Saddam's henchmen so the Iraqi people can live in peace and freedom. You're helping calm trouble in a violent part of the world."

"You're defeating the terrorists here in Iraq, so we don't have to face them in our own country," he added in reference to the administration's belief that Iraq is now on the front line of the global “war on terror”, launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

Afterwards Bush moved among the troops, shaking hands, dispensing hugs and posing for photos, including one as he held a huge dish containing a turkey and trimmings, before going behind the serving bar and handing over plates of meat and potatoes to the soldiers.

Accompanied by his National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, Bush then met with civilian administrator Paul Bremer and ground forces commander Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, as well as four members of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, before leaving after some two-and-a-half hours.

Soldiers said they had been given a heartfelt boost after struggling with a difficult occupation.

Top Secret

The lightening visit aimed to boost the degrading morale of U.S. soldiers

The White House planned a meticulous campaign to keep the first visit by a U.S. President to Iraq secret.

Television reports said U.S. authorities would have called it off had news been leaked in advance, and Air Force One landed at Baghdad airport without lights.

The White House had earlier said the President would spend the weekend at his ranch in Crawford, Texas with his family, going so far as to release a menu for their Thanksgiving dinner.

CNN said that even the President's father, ex-President George Bush, who was at the ranch, was not told of the visit and the President's wife, Laura, was only informed at the last minute.

The ever-present threat from the Iraqi resistance, including a rocket attack on the Baghdad hotel where U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying a month ago, has forced all occupation leaders who come to Iraq to do so in the utmost secrecy.

A visit to Baghdad earlier in the week by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was only announced after he had completed his talks in the capital and was about to leave for the much calmer British-patrolled southern city of Basra.