Allen wrote that only when they boarded the larger Air Force One, where
they met several other journalists who were already onboard, did they
learn that this was no joke, and that they were really headed for
Baghdad.
Once in flight, Allen said that one reporter leaned
across the isle and whispered to him, �The President is AWOL, and we�re
with him. This is the ultimate road trip!�
Getting In & Out Of Danger
According to Allen, Air Force One landed at Baghdad International
Airport at 9:32 a.m. (EST), or 5:32 p.m. local time, in Baghdad on
Thursday. Before they landed in Baghdad, the press corps was advised
that all of the plane�s windows would be shuttered (closed) before
entering Iraqi airspace. Allen writes of the instructions they
received from the Communications Director before landing:
"It is absolutely critical, when we land, that you do not
open your windows. Particularly as we land and when we're on the ground,
we want no light emanating from the plane. We will not be pulling up to
a terminal. We will be stopping at the end of the runway. It's just [as]
important that we move quickly...
Asked whether plane was flying under [an]other code than
Air Force One: 'I'm not going to be able to go into all the security
measures that are being taken and how we are flying. But it's safe to
say that is correct, that people on the ground do not know that this is
Air Force One that's landing.'"
Allen noted that the reporters, the Bush staff, security � and
presumably the President � all donned bulletproof vests before Air Force
One landed. He also noted that Air Force One approached the airport
without the usual landing lights on or even the lights on the wingtips.
Once on the ground, Allen wrote, the President was immediately whisked
away in a white Land Rover in a 12-vehicle motorcade which went the short
(5-minute) distance to the Bob Hope Dining Facility where some 600 or so
troops were gathered for a Thanksgiving dinner.
The troops were expecting only Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, commander
of US forces in Iraq, and Paul Bremer, the chief civilian administrator in
Iraq, to address them. They did not know Bush was there.
General Sanchez said, �God bless you for all of your sacrifices,� and
hurriedly introduced Ambassador Bremer. Bremer said he had Thanksgiving
greetings from the President. But then Bremer, hamming it up, looked
toward stage left and said, �Let�s see if we�ve got anyone more senior
here.� Here is how Allen described it:
�Then the President came out and the room erupted even
before he reached the stage, with soldiers standing on chairs, standing
on tables to bark, hoot, yell and �Hoo-ah!� their approval� The
President then plunged into the crowd to meet with the soldiers. He
served food and worked the entire length of the long building. The
President seemed to be into the serving thing� The President was wearing
[a] blue shirt, dark slacks and a PT (Physical Training) jacket bearing
the patch of the First Armored Division (Old Ironsides)� A huge
cheer was heard from inside as the President left and the vehicles
rolled at 10:58 a.m. Eastern.�
Bush gave a moving speech to the soldiers, including the following
statement of reassurance: �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.�
Bush then rode in a short motorcade to an office building where he met
with four Iraq Governing Council members, including Mr. Chalabi, according
to a senior coalition official. Then he went downstairs to meet with Gen.
Sanchez and Brig. Gen. Marty Dempsey, commander of the First Armored
Division.
Following that meeting, the President was taken directly back to Air
Force One, and they departed Baghdad shortly after 8:00 p.m. Iraq
time. The President was on the ground in Baghdad for just over 2�
hours. Apparently, the trip went off without a single hitch.
Should He Have Done It?
Once the news of Bush�s visit to Baghdad was known, he was roundly
criticized in the Middle East press, as well as in Europe and other
places. The common complaint was that Bush used this secret visit to
Iraq purely and simply as a �photo-op� to kick-off his re-election
campaign. Some even called him a coward for sneaking into Baghdad
under the cover of darkness and staying only apprx. 2� hours.
As for the �photo-op� question, I have one simple observation: It�s one
thing to land on an aircraft carrier with one of the Navy�s top pilots at
the stick; but it�s entirely another thing to fly Air Force One into
Baghdad to visit the troops in person. In my view, Bush put his life
in danger to make this trip.
This was not about a photo-op, in my opinion. We should also not
forget that the aircraft carrier landing largely backfired on Bush in the
weeks afterward. So why do another even more daring and dangerous
stunt? I don�t think this was driven by politics. >From
what we have read, Bush very much wanted to visit the troops on
Thanksgiving, despite the dangers and objections from security and some of
his high-ranking staff.
Not being a security expert, I don�t know whether President Bush should
have gone to Iraq or not. From what I have read, he simply wanted to
thank our troops in Iraq in person during the holiday, despite the
dangers.
Wannabes Just Had To Criticize
Several of the Democratic presidential hopefuls were quick to criticize
Bush�s stealth visit to the troops, but did not do so directly, perhaps
with the exception of Howard Dean. Dean�s spokesman said last
Friday, �It's nice that he made it over there today, but this visit
won�t change the fact that those brave men and women should never have
been fighting in Iraq in the first place.�
[Somehow, I doubt many of our brave soldiers sitting in that
room with their Commander In Chief on Thanksgiving were wishing Howard
Dean was with them instead, telling them they�re fighting for nothing!]
John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who served in Viet Nam, followed
closely behind, saying, �When Thanksgiving is over, I hope the
President will take the time to correct his failed policy in Iraq that has
placed our soldiers in a shooting gallery.� Kerry, let�s not forget,
voted for the war in Iraq, and with this kind of repeated double-speak,
it�s little wonder his campaign is in such a quagmire.
Joe Lieberman�s spokesman said, �In fairness, visiting with the
troops is exactly what a Commander In Chief should do. That said, we hope
that he�s also reassuring them that the administration will eventually
have a plan to win the peace and bring our troops home soon.�
[I can�t help but ask, why can�t these Dem Wannabes wise-up
and figure out that, once in a while, it might be best to come out and
back President Bush when it comes to supporting our Troops? No
wonder they are doing so badly!
Hillary Shoots Mouth Off To Troops In Iraq
Did you hear that Hillary Clinton also visited our troops in Iraq over
the holiday? And in Afghanistan? She did, although her trip
did not receive a great deal of coverage at the time (but it is
now). Hillary was upstaged by the President. She was said to
be livid when she learned that Bush had beaten her to Iraq the day
before. Maybe that�s why she shot her mouth off to our troops on the
front line.
While Hillary reportedly praised the troops for their bravery and hard
work, she apparently couldn�t help herself from being negative about the
war in Iraq, even to the point of suggesting we might not win the
war. Hillary was quoted as saying:
�Americans are wholeheartedly proud of what you are
doing, but there are many questions at home about the [Bush]
administration�s policies� We have to exert all of our efforts
militarily, but the outcome is not assured... The Pentagon tried
to make do with as few troops as possible, as light a footprint as they
could get away with. Now we�re playing catch-up... Unfortunately,
I don't think they fully appreciated the conditions we would
encounter.�
Thank you, Hillary! Just what our brave men and women in combat
wanted to hear!
[There is a NewsMax.com story in the links below which alleges that US
commanders in Bagram had a hard time convincing soldiers to sit with
Hillary during dinner on her visit to Iraq. Since NewsMax has a
history of criticizing Hillary, I�ll let you draw your own conclusions on
this story. See SPECIAL ARTICLES below.]
As soon as Hillary returned to the US, she continued to criticize Bush
regarding Iraq. Apparently, Ms. Clinton has become a military
expert. She reportedly said:
�We do not have the right mix of troops to get the job
done� We need more MPs, we need more intelligence, we need more civil
affairs, we need a bigger presence [in Iraq]� Clearly, what we are doing
now is not an effective strategy. We need to get the U.N. back in
as quickly as possible to internationalize this.�
This leads one to wonder WHY Hillary was visiting troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan in the first place. Not that it�s particularly unusual
for US Senators to visit our troops in battle. But Hillary has been
NO advocate of the military in her adult career.
I have suggested on more than one occasion in the last year that
Hillary has NOT absolutely ruled out a presidential run in 2004. I
know, the media says she will wait for 2008, but I have not bought it, at
least not for sure. I wonder if her latest trip to Iraq/Afghanistan is
just another foreign policy mission to build her credibility. We�ll
see, but don�t be surprised if she yet puts her hat in the ring.
And let me not fail to repeat that Hillary could still be the vice
presidential running-mate of whoever is ultimately the Democratic nominee,
though maybe not until the Dems� convention next year. In an earlier
E-Letter, I suggested that she might hook up with Gen. Wesley Clark, but
boy has his flame gone out. But she could still be the running-mate
of whoever gets the Dem nomination. Stranger things have
happened. Don�t rule it out.
Conclusions
I don�t know if President Bush took undue and ill-advised risks
regarding his stealth trip to visit our troops in Iraq. Maybe he
did. Probably he did. But it appears it was his idea. I
salute him for that, as did our troops, even though I have criticized him
on several other issues (as in last week�s E-Letter).
Not to mince words, Hillary�s comments to our troops were
PATHETIC . Every American should know what she said to our
brave troops, and she should be roundly criticized accordingly.
Finally, while I am not a member of any political party, it seems to me
that the Democratic Wannabes are continually shooting themselves in the
foot by criticizing Bush over the war in Iraq. Americans support our
troops, no matter what the mission. So do I!
Season�s greetings,
Gary D. Halbert
SPECIAL ARTICLES
The media spins Bush�s trip to Iraq.
Bush only went to upstage Hillary. Yeah, right!
NewsMax says troops didn�t want to eat with
Hillary.
Copyright 2003 Gary D.
Halbert.
