How Bush kept the lid on the turkey

By STEVE HOLLAND

Slouched in the back of a nondescript vehicle with a baseball cap pulled over his face, President George W. Bush sneaked out of Texas on the first leg of his bold trip to Baghdad.

The cover story was that Mr Bush was having Thanksgiving dinner with his family at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.

But the reality was that a Bush trip to Baghdad had been in the planning stages since mid-October.

It finally received the green light on Wednesday. Only a handful of top aides knew about it, as did Mr Bush's wife, Laura.

But his parents, former President George Bush snr and Barbara Bush, were kept in the dark - they went to Crawford expecting to eat a turkey dinner with their son.

Bush, with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, slipped away from his ranch in a vehicle with tinted windows on Wednesday night, security personnel at the wheel.

They encountered traffic, something Bush has rarely faced in nearly three years of using the Marine One helicopter to get about.

To get to his Air Force One jet at the Texas State Technical College in Waco, Bush pulled his cap low and slumped to the side. Rice did the same.

The vehicle passed through the gate and Bush entered the plane from the rear to avoid being seen.

The story used to explain why the plane was leaving was that it needed routine maintenance back in Washington.

The secrecy was holding.

Next stop: Andrews Air Force Base in Washington.

The plane entered a hangar, Bush stepped off and boarded a second Air Force jet, ready to go.

A truncated press pool was taken, its members cautioned that the trip was a national security secret, and the plane took off for Baghdad.

Eleven hours later, the jet landed at Baghdad's airport in nearly pitch darkness and the passengers climbed into vehicles for the short ride to a mess hall.

US civil administrator Paul Bremer added a dramatic flourish, telling the 600 soldiers gathered that only the most senior person there could read the President's Thanksgiving proclamation.

Out walked Bush. The troops, wearing desert fatigues, roared their approval.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq