Post by Salem6 on Nov 27, 2003 18:04:13 GMT
US President George W Bush has made a surprise visit to Baghdad to mark America's Thanksgiving holiday.
The event was kept secret until Mr Bush was in the Iraqi capital because of security concerns. Had word of the trip leaked it would have been cancelled, the Associated Press reported.
Mr Bush made a flying visit on Air Force One
Mr Bush spent two hours having dinner with US troops at Baghdad airport before leaving Iraq. The visit is the first to Iraq by a United States President.
It comes on the heels of a brief visit by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who also did not announce his trip.
The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz visited Baghdad a month ago. A rocket was fired at the hotel where he was staying, killing one US officer.
It had been announced that Mr Bush would spend Thanksgiving with his family at his Texas ranch.
A menu for the dinner had even been made public, AP reported.
President Bush's father visited US troops in Kuwait on Thanksgiving Day 1990, on the eve of the first US-led war in the Gulf.
The event was kept secret until Mr Bush was in the Iraqi capital because of security concerns. Had word of the trip leaked it would have been cancelled, the Associated Press reported.
Mr Bush made a flying visit on Air Force One
Mr Bush spent two hours having dinner with US troops at Baghdad airport before leaving Iraq. The visit is the first to Iraq by a United States President.
It comes on the heels of a brief visit by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who also did not announce his trip.
The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz visited Baghdad a month ago. A rocket was fired at the hotel where he was staying, killing one US officer.
It had been announced that Mr Bush would spend Thanksgiving with his family at his Texas ranch.
A menu for the dinner had even been made public, AP reported.
President Bush's father visited US troops in Kuwait on Thanksgiving Day 1990, on the eve of the first US-led war in the Gulf.