November 28th, 2003, 11:29 pm
“A Chickenhawk Thanksgiving in Baghdad”
Just as the Thanksgiving holiday itself was the unintentionally ironic creation of a group of colonialists whose descendents proceeded to virtually wipe out an entire indigenous population, Thanksgiving in Baghdad 2004 served as an unblinking and unthinking exercise in reactionary gall, undertaken by a president seemingly incapable of comprehending the real meaning of his actions.
It was a moment of extraordinary political theatre as Paul Bremer, the top US official in Iraq, told troops he had a Thanksgiving message from the President and that the most “senior” US official among them should be the one to read it. Turning toward the stage backdrop, Bremer asked: “Is there anyone back there who’s more senior than us?”
Enter Mr Bush. “I was just looking for a warm meal somewhere thanks for inviting me to dinner,” the President, wearing a coy smile and with tears in his eyes, told the soldiers … But it was a bold and meticulously orchestrated gesture that will have no political downside. Mr Bush will also have artfully upstaged Senator Hillary Clinton who is due to visit the Iraq capital this morning … Some Iraqis were unimpressed. “To hell with Bush,” said Mohammed al-Jubouri. “He is another Mongol in a line of invaders who have destroyed Iraq
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