You may say it is all because of the next election, but I have to give him credit for this one.


'I was just looking for
a warm meal somewhere'

Troops 'stunned' by Bush Iraq visit, city soldier says

By LAURA J. WINTER in Baghdad and TRACY CONNOR in New York
DAILY NEWS WRITERS


President Bush shows he can dish it out with the best as he fills plates with turkey and the trimmin’s yesterday at Baghdad airport.


President serves up a surprise and turkey in shock trip to our heroes in Baghdad.


Bush, glad to give comfort to troops who've been constantly under fire, poses for pictures with thrilled G.I.s during surprise trip to Iraq.

Talk about shock and awe.
President Bush left American G.I.s in Baghdad breathless with his mind-blowing, top-secret Thanksgiving Day visit to the war zone in Iraq.

"Hoo-ah!" stunned soldiers shouted after their commander-in-chief suddenly appeared in the mess tent at Baghdad International Airport.

"Everybody was just so stunned," Spec. Andrew Meissner, 34, from Manhattan, told the Daily News. "It turned a holiday meal into a holiday party."

With tears in his eyes, Bush told 600 cheering troops: "I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere. Thanks for inviting me to dinner." Then he launched into a hang-tough speech, vowing the U.S. will not be driven out of Iraq.

"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," he said.

The trip to the front lines, which lasted 2-1/2 hours, was a classic Bush in-your-face move, sure to rattle enemies in Iraq and critics at home.

With Iraqi insurgents carrying out increasingly brazen attacks on Americans every day, the daring mission was cloaked in unprecedented secrecy.

Virtually the entire White House staff and even Bush's family was kept in the dark, and officials threatened to scuttle the flight if word leaked out.

But to the battle-worn soldiers spending yet another holiday away from family in hostile territory, it was worth the trouble.

"He had a speech - but I was just so thrilled I couldn't remember it," Meissner said. "It made me feel the commander-in-chief really cares about what is happening in Iraq."

Lt. Dan Brosey, 26, of Seattle, said he had a new "spring in his step" after shaking Bush's hand.

"It's one of those great moments I will never forget," he said. "He was great. To get on a plane and come here!"

Bush began his journey around 8 p.m. Wednesday when he slipped away from his Texas ranch in slacks and a warmup jacket, with a baseball cap pulled down low. Joined by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, he headed for Air Force One in an unmarked car.

A small press pool sworn to secrecy in tow, Bush jetted to Andrews Air Force Base, picked up more aides and reporters, and changed planes in a hangar.

With window blinds closed, the radio silenced and its call signal disguised, his Boeing 747 zoomed toward Iraq at 665 mph.

As the plane neared, the Baghdad airport - the most dangerous airfield in the world, where a cargo jet was hit by a missile just five days earlier - was blacked out.

With Bush in the cockpit, the plane - believed to be equipped with defense systems that can foil ground-to-air missiles - landed at 5:32 p.m. Baghdad time.

Under a crescent moon, the President was whisked across the rutted airfield in a white Land Rover with lights out.

Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez were addressing the hungry troops.

With an air of drama, they asked if anyone was senior enough to read the President's message - and Bush stepped out from behind a curtain.

Soldiers mounted tables and chairs to applaud and hoot during Bush's speech, and watched in awe as he plunged into the crowd.

"He thanked us for our hard work, and then he started serving the soldiers," Meissner said. "He was scooping out potatoes. He was up and talking to people. He was making sure people were eating their vegetables. He told one woman she needed to put more vegetables on her tray."

Without stopping to eat, Bush left the tent for meetings with the Iraqi Governing Council, Baghdad's mayor and city council, and top U.S. commanders.

The visit was a distraction from the everyday difficulties of the Iraqi occupation - which took no holiday.

There were several insurgent attacks - the Italian mission was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, and a U.S. convoy west of Baghdad came under fire.

Politically, the U.S. encountered a setback when Shiite Muslim leaders slammed its plan for transferring power to an Iraqi government, and the Kurdish president of the Iraqi Governing Council seconded the concerns.

On the flight back home, expected to land early this morning, Bush told reporters he went to Iraq because he wants his forces to know they're not alone.

He thinks they got the message.

"I could see the first look of amazement and then look of appreciation on the kids' face," he said.

"Working the crowd, a soldier said to me, 'I'm so glad you came. Thanks for coming. It's important for us to know the people of America support us.'"