Bush's Thanksgiving Turkey Under-cooked
By Laurel McFadden
Staff Writer

The most publicized Thanksgiving dinner this year occurred in a small airplane hanger in Baghdad, Iraq. President Bush, in a top secret trip into the war zone, ate Thanksgiving dinner and spoke to 600 military personnel in an attempt to make a personalized show of dedication to the war.

Frankly, I found it embarrassing. It is certainly true that holding a turkey in the middle of a cheering throng makes a far better photo-op than sitting behind a desk, signing papers. In this situation, the government seems to have gone for flair. Instead of using our extensive monetary and military resources to address any number of issues that might bring the war to a earlier close, improve conditions for either troops or Iraqis, increase education or simply address any other issue that activists across America fight for, America proves that it can keep a secret for about 24 hours, and send the President on a James Bond-esque spin to Iraq.

The media, of course, had a field day with this adventure. Bush himself, according to reports by CNN, stated that he would not have made the trip if he could not bring along some of the press. This was clearly more than just a morale-boosting visit for the troops; it was a popularity-boosting trip for the President. A successful, or even disastrous, conclusion to Bush’s visit could only lead to the news’ headlining the event across the country and parts of the world.

The situation paints a pretty picture for the President: devoted leader leaves own family to have Thanksgiving in hostile territory with his fighters. There is no arguing with the fact that flying to Iraq to have dinner with some 600 troops did boost morale, both for the individuals at the meal and the soldiers who heard of the visit later. The President, however, is responsible for far more than the mood of a limited number of military. For one, he is responsible for the lives of those personnel, part of which involves doing everything in his power to conclude the war they are fighting on his command.

Even the consideration of Bush’s own life would have been a good reason to avoid the trip. Although it was a brave move on his part to visit a country where a large number of people would love to dispose of the leader of the brassy USA, that kind of risk is irresponsible to the people he is representing, both the citizenry at home and the troops abroad. It is not the kind of matter that would be put to vote, but by the time you become President, it’s no longer about winging off on heroic adventures.

But then again, maybe that is what the voters are trying to say they want from a leader. What is it about America that makes the President feel that the wisest move is an extravagantly expensive secret stunt, which takes the top technologies of a nation to send one man on a two-and-a-half-hour stay in Iraq. The wanna-be cowboy spirit of the United States is continually enthralled by stunts and surprises. These dramatics avoid solving the issue at hand, and instead appeal to the easily manipulable culture of good-old-boy ethics.

The perfect touch to the story is that this is the first time any U.S. President has visited Iraq. Why no president, including Bush, has made any attempt to visit before war broke out is boggling. It is atrocious that now that the situation has gotten to the point where it is indeed incredibly dangerous to make the visit, and no peaceful, diplomatic trip is really feasible, the President utilizes the situation to boost his popularity.

This is the most irritating aspect of this escapade. No one can deny that the troops eating Thanksgiving dinner with their President were touched by the gesture. I myself have family and friends in the military and know what seeing the President would have meant to them. However, the fact that Bush used the resources and power of a country that trusts him, to take a trip that was, from a practical standpoint, largely useless except in boosting his own popularity, is infuriating. He can sit back and allow the media to roll with his story, knowing that he can largely do what he pleases, because who is really going to stand up and say, “This is foolish.”

America is so used to moving with the flow of popularity, and is so afraid to stand up to anything emotionally poignant, that the government knows exactly how to step, exactly what moves to make that will make a situation tear-jerkingly heroic. And so we get exactly the kind of headlines we saw on November 28, headlines like “Amid Secrecy, Bush Visits Troops in Iraq,” and “Can You Keep a Secret? Hop On,” all from The Los Angeles Times. Not a story of peace, not a Thanksgiving gift of steps towards the conclusion of war, but a soap-opera of international drama.