Saddam Hussein (the Iraqi president) has guranteed the safety of the passengers aboard and will treat them as if they were Iraqi citizens.

It is a very volatile situation, one that has been going on for a month and will not go away. The U.S. has made it pretty clear they will react with overwhelming force if they feel threatened.

I think that the real emotion is one of great pride,

They're in convoys, taking the same risks as the male solders and Marines,

No surpise in Istanbul

It's history being made. More than that, I don't think you can send 140,000 soldiers out there, young guys from Kansas and Alabama and all over the place, and not take some of the same risks that you're asking them to take.