Bush in Baghdad

The President Bush had started it on a note of vibrant optimism and the White House announced, time and again, that Americans would be given a hearty welcome by Iraqi people. If that were true, then Bush's trip needn't have been wrapped in impregnable secrecy; instead, it should have been an occasion to rejoice. A liberator, after all, doesn't need the cover of darkness; nor do his soldiers need morale boosting.

Mr. Bush is now facing a host of tricky questions both at home and abroad. The very rationale behind the war, which was never quite above board, is coming increasingly under international scrutiny; Mr. Bush's popularity rating has dropped; and many Americans have begun to ask why the soldiers are in Iraq, even after the 'decisive' victory has been achieved. The incongruities in the White House version of the war, and its aftermath, are becoming visible even to the Americans, who were once overwhelmed by the weight of the reasoning in favour of toppling Saddam Hussein.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

So the trip has been a two-pronged move: boosting the sagging morale of US soldiers and putting a brake on the carping criticism that the president's Iraq policy is facing at home.

That said , it is far from clear what the trip has actually achieved. President Bush did not meet the representatives of Iraqi people for whom his concern sounded a bit too overriding only a few months back . Does he still believe that a morally rejuvenated army will be enough to heal the wounds inflicted on the psyche of Iraqi people?