Soldiers 'turned away from meal with Bush'
Images of George Bush being cheered by troops during his surprise visit to Baghdad last month boosted public support for the war in Iraq.
It showed the US President with the soldiers, treating them to a Thanksgiving Day turkey dinner after months of tough fighting.
But a US military newspaper claims soldiers from some units who arrived for the meal were turned away.
The Pentagon-authorised Stars and Stripes, quoting two officials with the Army’s 1st Armoured Division, said only pre-selected soldiers were allowed to go to the dinner for “security reasons”.
Sergeant Loren Russell said in a letter to the newspaper: “Imagine their (the soldiers) dismay when they walked 15 minutes to the Bob Hope dining facility, only to find that they were turned away from their evening meal because they were in the wrong unit.”
Sgt Russell wrote: “As a leader myself, I’d guess that other measures could have been taken to allow for proper security and still let the soldiers have their meal.”
The Stars and Stripes caused a stir last month when it reported the findings of a survey which suggested half of the troops in Iraq did not plan to re-enlist after their current tours of duty.
