Baghdad Thanksgiving.2003
By Annia Ciezadlo
Published: November 22, 2007, New York Times
I HAVE always hated Thanksgiving. Christmas, now there was a holiday: food, presents, elves and angels, colored lights. Thanksgiving was clunky and secular, devoid of mystery or ritual yet still reeking of guilt: you didn’t get any presents, but you were supposed to be grateful for something
But in Iraq four years ago, Thanksgiving was all I could think about. I was in Baghdad as a journalist, spending a working honeymoon with my brand-new husband, and homesick. So when an American friend asked me to help her cook the turkey she had imported from Jordan, I set out for Souk al-Ajanib, the foreigners’ market, to hunt for sage.
The Iraqis could spend time with us without having to worry that they would be killed for it. They could satisfy their curiosity about our culture, with its unfathomable holidays, and we could learn about theirs. And while most of them were too smart to say it in public, a lot of Iraqis were happy — you could perhaps even call it grateful — that the United States had gotten rid of Saddam Hussein. [1]
But in Iraq four years ago, Thanksgiving was all I could think about. I was in Baghdad as a journalist, spending a working honeymoon with my brand-new husband, and homesick. So when an American friend asked me to help her cook the turkey she had imported from Jordan, I set out for Souk al-Ajanib, the foreigners’ market, to hunt for sage.
The Iraqis could spend time with us without having to worry that they would be killed for it. They could satisfy their curiosity about our culture, with its unfathomable holidays, and we could learn about theirs. And while most of them were too smart to say it in public, a lot of Iraqis were happy — you could perhaps even call it grateful — that the United States had gotten rid of Saddam Hussein. [1]
WHAT IS THANKSGIVING?
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks, traditionally to God, for the things that one has at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United states and on the second Monday of October in Canada.
AND...
Three years ago this week, President Bush made a surprise Thanksgiving Day visit to Baghdad, where he told a group of stunned soldiers that the United States did not wage a bloody war to depose Saddam Hossein "only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins."
Giving a speech ,George W. Bush told:
"Together, you and I have taken an oath to defend our country. You're honoring that oath. The United States military is doing a fantastic job.
You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq, so that we don't have to face them in our own country. You're defeating Saddam's henchmen, so that the people of Iraq can live in peace and freedom.
By helping the Iraqi people become free, you're helping change a troubled and violent part of the world. By helping to build a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East, you are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful. "
Giving a speech ,George W. Bush told:
"Together, you and I have taken an oath to defend our country. You're honoring that oath. The United States military is doing a fantastic job.
You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq, so that we don't have to face them in our own country. You're defeating Saddam's henchmen, so that the people of Iraq can live in peace and freedom.
By helping the Iraqi people become free, you're helping change a troubled and violent part of the world. By helping to build a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East, you are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful. "
CONCLUTION:
It seems three years ago american troops had different conditions in Iraq.They could celebrated Thanksgiving and their supposed victory.
REFRENCES:
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