November 30, 2003	Sunday	Shawwal 5, 1424

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WASHINGTON, Nov 29: President George Bush said on Saturday that the morale of the US troops in Iraq was high and he was confident that America will prevail.

Addressing his nation over the radio on Saturday, two days after his secret visit to Baghdad, Mr Bush said he was honoured to travel to Iraq, to spend Thanksgiving with his military.

“I’m pleased to report back from the front lines that our troops are strong, morale is high and our military is confident we will prevail,” he said.

The US military, he said, was confronting the “terrorist enemy” in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere so that “we don’t meet that enemy in our own country.”

The US troops, he said, also helping millions of people in these “newly liberated countries to build lives of dignity and hope.”

Mr Bush acknowledged that “long deployments in dangerous places have added hardships in military communities across the country.”

Referring to American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr Bush said: “Americans are also thinking of the military families that must face this holiday with sorrow of recent loss. Every person who dies in the line of duty commands the special gratitude of the American people. And the military families that mourn can know this: our nation will not forget their loved ones, and the sacrifice they made to protect us all.”