We got lucky.

No one thought the towers would come down including us.

But, our luck has not ended.

We are getting luckier and although we do not honor American holidays, we are happy to give thanks on this 2004 Thanksgiving holiday.

Who would have thought that after 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq, that the U.S. president would have to avoid the British Parliament fearful of outspoken dissent?

All the British compassion towards Americans in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 has dwindled, becoming anger. The smirk and arrogance of this compassionate conservative president generates more hatred than our violent attacks.

We like this president.

Saddam saved us. We were on the run in Afghanistan. We believed that the U.S. military would track us down. We ran scared. But somehow Saddam took the fall. We are thankful. We needed a breather.

We never liked Saddam or his sons who were all secular hedonists living in luxurious mansions and compounds. They were aristocrats like the Saudi and British royal families.

We live in caves even with our fortunes. We are willing to sacrifice our lives. Do you believe that the Saudi or British royal families are as committed as we are to our cause? Yet, the president talks to them and not the British Parliament.

The president is like them. He does not like dissent in his own country just like the royal families.

When he said, "freedom is beautiful," he smirked. If he is sincere, he would not have "free speech zones" to isolate protestors in his own country during his fundraising trips. He would not have the FBI scrutinize his own citizens at anti-war rallies.

But, we digress in our thankfulness.

We are fortunate that Saddam is now the target. We are grateful that Americans are in Iraq. This all makes us safer in Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Turkey and, yes, even in the USA.

Now, we have Americans in our midst. We do not need fancy weapons or night goggles. We just need donkeys.

Donkeys donít cost four billion dollars a month.

Americans expected flowers to be waved welcoming them in Iraq. The flowers are as difficult to find as those weapons of mass destruction.

Where have all the Iraqi flowers and weapons gone?

They have been transformed.

They are now primitive rocket launchers and jerry-rigged bombs.

Like the trickle down economics of the president, this is trickle down death to Americans.

We are thankful for the invitation from the president. He said "Bring Emí On" and, of course, we accept. Some of us have arrived and more will be attending.

Yes, we certainly like this host of a president.

We are thankful on this Thanksgiving Holiday