Thursday: President Bush arrives on the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.
WASHINGTON — Hours after an historic landing aboard a moving aircraft carrier that had served in three recent military operations, President Bush told sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln Thursday that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended."
Bush told the 5,000 shipmates that the coalition that liberated Iraq from the dictator Saddam Hussein is now working to secure and reconstruct the country.
"Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of precision, speed and boldness the enemy did not expect, and the world had not seen before," Bush said. "Marines and soldiers charged to Baghdad across 350 miles of hostile ground, in one of the swiftest advances of heavy arms in history. You have shown the world the skill and might of the American armed forces."
The president also praised coalition members that aided the operation -- the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland...