By any standards, President Bush’s fleeting visit to Iraq was a remarkable move. It took everyone by complete surprise.

Needless to say, critics are already pouring cold water on it, dismissing it as a mere PR stunt. They point out that President Eisenhower visited American troops during the Korean War and President Johnson paid two visits to US forces during the Vietnam War, but that neither brought an end to those wars any closer. They also point out — again quite rightly — that President Bush did not venture outside the heavily-guarded CPA ghetto in Baghdad. There was no effort to see Iraq itself, to see what Iraqis are going through.

But these were not the point of the visit — and in any event, Iraq is not Vietnam. By next June, there is no reason to believe that there will not be an independent government in Baghdad, even if the debate as to how it will be chosen is now heating up. By then, Iraqi forces will be the overwhelming instrument of security in the country. The Iraqi political picture is going to change.

One of Bush’s aims with this visit was to boost morale among US troops under incessant attacks.

The other was to show him back home as a man of action, a man who leads from the front, who rolls up his sleeves and gets involved.

His approval ratings are bound to soar as a result. A PR stunt it may have been, but what those who deride it as such fail to understand is that PR stunts are what drives so much of politics in the West. They are what can win elections.

As for the message that Iraq and the Middle East can garner from Bush’s visit, it is simple and stark.

The US is not going to change its mind about Iraq; it is not going to pull out until it is ready — which as far as troops go is not going to be next June.

From what the Pentagon, administrator Paul Bremer and Baghdad-based US military officials all say, it is clear they are going to stay on afterward, probably long afterward — not that that would be unique in the Middle East.

All the carefully crafted drama of the visit — Bush appearing unannounced, Bush serving turkey to troops, Bush flying back two hours later — could, however, come back to haunt him. Just as he tied himself with unforgettable imagery to the “war against terrorism” when he climbed on top of a mound of rubble at Ground Zero in New York three days after Sept. 11 and vowed retaliation, he has now tied himself with equal unforgettable imagery to his vision of victory — of a peaceful, democratic Iraq. If it does not happen, that imagery could easily destroy his hopes of a second term in office.