Happy Thanksgiving! Articles / Operation Enduring Drivel Posted by thebryon on Nov 27, 2003 - 10:00 AM President Bush Rules [1]! President Bush made a surprise visit Thursday to U.S. troops in Baghdad, flying secretly to violence-scarred Iraq on a trip tense with concerns about his safety. Bush spoke with soldiers from the 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne Division at an airport mess hall. “You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq,” he said, “so we don’t have to face them in our own country.” Terrorists are testing America’s resolve, Bush said, and “they hope we will run.” “We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, 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,” the president said, prompting a standing ovation and cheers. Video [2] BAGHDAD [3] - There was turkey and stuffing, and American football on television, but in almost all other respects it was a far from ordinary Thanksgiving Day for tens of thousands of U.S. troops serving in Iraq on Thursday. With family and friends thousands of miles away, soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division gathered in a prefabricated dining hall in eastern Baghdad to munch on traditional fare and reflect on the annual holiday. Rather than with bitterness at being stuck so far from home for the celebration, it was with a strong degree of introspection and soul-searching that most chewed over their sweet potatoes, ham, corn and cranberry sauce. "At home, Thanksgiving is all about football, here it's about being alive," she said. "I've thought a lot more about the meaning of Thanksgiving since being here." It's not too late to help the troops this Christmas! Operation Enduring Holiday [4]! This article is from Random Drivel   http://www.randomdrivel.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.randomdrivel.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3842 Links in this article   [1] http://www.msnbc.com/news/998811.asp   [2] http://video.msn.com/p/player.htm?m=nn_hattori_iraq_031127&csid=Msnbc&t=News&c=NBC%20News   [3] http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/369464|top|11-27-2003::09:48|reuters.html   [4] http://www.operationenduringholiday.com