perfidy

In this post Aziz Poonawalla said very neatly what I said very clumsily here. Excerpts:

I've been thinking about the GWB visit to Iraq, and found to my surprise that it was difficult to achieve clarity of opinion at first. But I've had some time to think on it and I think that the main thing that should be said about the surprise Thanksgiving visit is: well done.

There's a single reason why it deserves praise. Because for the troops in Iraq, it was an uplifting moment. Regardless of the soldiers' political or religious beliefs, hardships incurred from the long deployment, or problems awaiting them when they return, they are professionals and Bush's visit gave them their due. . . .

[P]hoto ops are nice, but good policy and leadership are better. . . .

The President did a good thing for the troops. Extrapolating it to promote his personal virtue, or his vice, is nonsensical.