Presidential visit

The impact of President Bush's surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day will long be remembered.

It will be a good memory for the many Americans who were surprised during their holiday TV viewing to learn that the president was not in Crawford, Texas, with his family.

Most of all, the surprise visit -- and well-kept secret -- will have a lasting effect on the men and women in uniform who were honored by having their commander-in-chief drop in while serving in a distant and hostile land far from their own homes and families.

Imagine being a soldier in Iraq. Many of the troops there were called up to active duty from reserve units all over the nation. While all of them understood the possibility of active duty, many of them never expected to be separated from family, friends and jobs for an extended time while participating in what may well turn out to be the most important military exercise in the country's history.

The loneliness of being far from home on important holidays can have a tremendous emotional effect on our troops. What a boost to find out you'll be eating the traditional turkey dinner with the president.

There have been efforts to turn President Bush's Thanksgiving Day visit to Iraq into little more than a political ploy. Those claims are hollow and rancorous. Presidents have a right to show compassion and support to fellow Americans whatever the circumstances and wherever they are. In times of disaster, for example, it is comforting to have the head of government and head of state make a personal visit to the scene. Likewise, presidents have, throughout U.S. history, rallied the troops in times of war by rubbing elbows and making conversation with those who serve on the front lines.

It would be possible, of course, to turn every presidential activity into a grab for political advantage. But to what purpose? Americans have a right to expect their president to show up at appropriate times and on appropriate occasions. And spending a couple of hours with soldiers far from home on a holiday is certainly one of them.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that the trip remained a secret. Keeping a president's whereabouts under wraps is no easy task in this day and age of instant communication. But, we're told, even the president's parents were in the dark as they waited to serve up the traditional holiday meal at the Texas ranch.

As proud parents of almost any soldier in Iraq could tell us, George and Barbara Bush didn't mind not having their son home for dinner. They knew he was committed to something far more important: Bolstering the morale of our sons and daughters in uniform.