January 11, 2007
Fort Benning--President Bush is back in Washington after a trip to Georgia Thursday afternoon.
He chose a military base here as the place to begin his push to get support for his new plan in Iraq.
The president had lunch with and spoke to troops at Fort Benning.
He explained why he thinks sending more than twenty thousand additional U.S. troops to Iraq will help end the violence there.
Several soldiers who heard the president's speech told us they believe the war in Iraq is winnable, and they're ready to do whatever the president asks of them.
"As soldiers, we're here to follow the directives of our Commander in Chief, and I think he has a good plan," says SSgt. Allan Thomas.
"We're soldiers. We go where we're supposed to. We do what we're supposed to, and we come home," says Sgt. 1st Class Cook, an Iraq Veteran.
"I'm ready to go. I mean, if I wasn't ready, I wouldn't have joined the infantry," says Pfc. Kyle Drake.
The 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning found out today their deployment to Iraq has been moved up from May to March.
Some other 3rd ID troops from Fort Stewart are already headed back to Iraq.
The President saw some Fort Benning troops in action this afternoon.
He watched an Airborne School demonstration.
He saw ground training and watched paratroopers practice parachuting from a tower.
The Army's Silver Wings paratrooper team also jumped out of helicopters.
President Bush got an up close look at Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles and spent a lot of time taking pictures with and talking to soldiers.
Congressman Sanford Bishop flew to Fort Benning with the President on Air Force One today.
But you shouldn't take that to mean the Democratic 2nd District Representative agrees with Mr. Bush.
Bishop says he continues to support the troops and their families, but he has serious reservations about the President's new way forward.
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