I may be a bit naive, and it has been a while since I served on active duty, but I can't recall ever sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner at 6:00 AM. Air Force One touched down at Baghdad International Airport, under cover of darkness, at 5:20 AM Baghdad time. Bush was on the ground for two and a half hours, his plane departing Baghdad at around 7:50 AM. Considering that it likely took some 30 minutes for Bush to disembark from Air Force One and travel by a heavily secured motorcade to the hangar where the troops were assembled, that means our military men and women were downing turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and non-alcoholic beer at a time when most people would be eating eggs, bacon, grits, home fries, and toast.This explains the indifferent look on the faces of the soldiers. That, and the Secret Service being dressed in fatigues (yes - they were costumed to look like soldiers, folks. Scroll down and note the guys facing away from George - he goes NOWHERE without 'em) adds to the overwhelming ennui that's captured in that magical moment.
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600 American troops were said to be "shocked and awed" by Bush's surprise appearance. I would have thought most of the troops, many of whom are support personnel who work relatively normal working hours, would have been more surprised when they were ordered to get up before sunrise to eat Thanksgiving dinner between 6:00 and 7:30 A.M.
And the abysmal and sycophantic Washington and New York press corps seems to have completely missed the Thanksgiving "breakfast dinner." Chalk that up to the fact that most people in the media never saw a military chow line or experienced reveille in their lives.
Monday, December 1
HEY! WAKE UP! It's 5AM - Time To Eat Turkey With The Guy Who Sent You Here!
NewsFilter sends along this gem. Wayne Madsen at Counterpunch makes what should have been an extremely simple observation - which admittedly got past us, too:
