Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Serving Turkey in Iraq

Friday, Nov. 28, 2003 | 3:35 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

WEEKEND EDITION Nov. 29 - 30, 2003

WHERE WAS President George W. Bush for Thanksgiving Day? Right where he should have been, with some of the troops he, as commander in chief, ordered to Iraq.

Some people see the unannounced trip on Air Force One as being symbolic. That's true, but it was also the right thing to do on this special American holiday.

Political critics will see the trip as a photo-op for his campaign to hold the presidency for another four years. This also may be true, but only because the best politics is for the office holder to do the job he was elected to do. As head man responsible for our military, President Bush was doing his job, no matter how it is interpreted.

The president's two-and-a-half hour stop in Baghdad drew several responses from his critics. The remarks coming from Gen. Wesley K. Clark's presidential campaign headquarters were the best. "We're not going to throw stones at the guy for trying to do a nice thing for the troops. When the president goes and spends time with the troops, that's a good thing," his spokesman told The New York Times. Another Clark adviser, Chris Lehane, praised the president for the trip, but added, "He also has a responsibility to offer us a real success strategy in Iraq so we can get our troops out of there so they don't have to spend future Thanksgivings in Iraq."

The photo of our president serving food to some of the troops pleased me. Additional pictures of the day showed our troops in Baghdad playing flag football and others dining in an Iraqi home. Coming out of Afghanistan were pictures of Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., sharing Thanksgiving dinner with our troops. Reed, a West Point graduate, had served as an Army paratrooper. Both of them were scheduled for Pakistan and Iraq after visiting the 10th Mountain Division.

Presidential visits with troops near or in combat areas have always drawn historical attention. President Abraham Lincoln's visits to the battlefield at Antietam and also to Richmond during the Civil War are probably the most notable.

I remember President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower coming to Korea in December 1952. Our company was on a combat outpost when the captain asked for two tall soldiers from my platoon. They went back to the Second Infantry Division Command post to participate as honor guard members for the newly elected president. They were the only people who saw him, but everybody knew about it and the division history book contains pictures of the visit.

Our history book also notes: "Early December was marked by light action on the front, and by the history-making visit of President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower on 4 December. Accompanied by Generals Omar Bradley, Mark Clark and James Van Fleet and Secretary of Defense appointee Charles Wilson, "Ike" was briefed on the tactical situation at the Division command post on the cold December morning. Soldiers from every company in the Division and color-bearers from five nations formed an honor guard for the next Commander-in Chief."

President Lyndon B. Johnson's visit with the troops at Cam Ranh Bay during the war in Vietnam also has gone down in our country's history books. The troops are always surprised and happy to see their commander in chief.

Bush in his remarks during his stop in Iraq also paid tribute to the Iraqi people and the Governing Council. He told them, "I have a message for the Iraqi people: You have an opportunity to seize the moment and rebuild your great country, based on human dignity and freedom. The regime of Saddam Hussein is gone forever."

The trip to Baghdad, properly conducted under the most secure conditions, was a diplomatic success. It was also a worthy symbol of a leader doing a job he was elected to do. Critics of his trip will quickly be pushed into the bin holding sour grapes.

Well done, Mr. President. What are your plans for Christmas?

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