Most Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving today. (By the way, Happy Thanksgiving.) However, most Iraqis are not very thankful, nor do they have much reason to be thankful.
Bush made a secret visit to Iraq today. He obviously realized that he was taking some punches for not visiting troops these past months; he saw a political opening, and so he exploited it.
Nevertheless, Wired News reports that Bush's visit gave the troops "a big morale booster on Thanksgiving Day." That is certainly a good thing, and political or not, it was necessary for Bush to make a visit to Iraq, and his handlers knew that Thanksgiving day would strike just the right emotional chord with an always dramatic American public.
I think it needs to be pointed out that Bush spent only two and a half hours in Iraq, whereas he left behind thousands of troops that would love to be home for the holidays. He left our soldiers behind in a country that is so insecure that even Bush's plane had to land in the dark, and without its lights on.
What do Iraqis think of Bush's surprise visit? Well, here are some clips from the article in Wired News:
"As far as I'm concerned he's welcome to come and he's more than welcome to leave.""We welcome Bush as we welcome any guest who comes peacefully. But we want to draw attention to the fact that there is no security, no jobs and no services well into the American occupation of Iraq."
"If the situation continues, Iraqis will use everything they have to throw the Americans out, including stones."
"To hell with Bush. He is another Mongol in a line of invaders who have destroyed Iraq."
"Look at what we have to go through. Our living conditions have become deplorable. The U.S. situation in Iraq will only become worse if things do not improve."
"Bush has zero popularity here."