By Mike Allen and Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, November 28, 2003; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Nov. 27 -- In a trip infused with cloak-and-dagger secrecy, President Bush paid a surprise visit to Iraq on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with U.S. troops and promised not to retreat in the face of truck bombs and assassinations.

Bush quietly slipped away from his Texas ranch Wednesday and flew to Washington, where he changed planes and picked up a few staff members for the long flight to the Iraqi capital. The presidential visit had been planned for almost six weeks but was tightly held, even by a small media pool traveling with him, until after Bush left Baghdad.

With a tear in his eye, Bush stunned 600 soldiers at a Thanksgiving celebration in the makeshift military base at Baghdad International Airport. He burst onstage with little warning and told them they are "defeating the terrorists here in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our own country.

"By helping the Iraqi people become free, you're helping change a troubled and violent part of the world," he said to thunderous and prolonged cheers. "By helping to build a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the Middle East, you are defending the American people from danger, and we are grateful."

The 21/2-hour visit, designed to rally morale of exhausted troops and signal U.S. commitment to Iraq, was the first by any American president to Baghdad. It came as the United States is struggling to beat back a deadly insurgency and begin a political process so the occupation can end by July 1, 2004. With more than 180 soldiers killed since Bush declared an end to major conflict on May 1, Iraq is also shaping up as a major issue for the 2004 election campaign.

In a message aimed at the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as well as the Iraqi opposition, Bush acknowledged that U.S. forces are engaged in a difficult mission. "Those who attack our coalition forces and kill innocent Iraqis are testing our will. They hope we will run," he said. But the president pledged that the United States will remain on the offensive and ultimately prevail in Iraq because "the cause is just" and Iraqis deserve their freedom.

"We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq, pay a bitter cost of casualties, defeat a ruthless dictator and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins," he told the troops, most of whom are from the 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne Division.

The White House's stealth strategy for the visit included a dark takeoff and spiral landing by Air Force One, whose running lights were shut off on a night with little moonlight as it flew under a fake call sign. Bush's aides rejected the idea of coming incognito in a military plane and proudly set the mammoth robin's-egg blue plane down in risky territory that the United States occupies but does not thoroughly control.

Because of the tense security situation, even troops celebrating Thanksgiving in the U.S.-controlled Green Zone at the airport were unaware that Air Force One had landed. L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, told the troops he had Thanksgiving greetings from the president. Hamming it up, Bremer then looked toward the stage and said, "Let's see if we've got anyone more senior here."

When the president emerged, the room erupted, with soldiers standing on chairs and tables to bark, hoot, yell and "hoo-ah" their approval. In a boisterous mood, Bush told the troops he was "just looking for a warm meal somewhere. Thank you for inviting me to dinner."

The president said he could not think of a finer group with whom to have Thanksgiving dinner. "I bring a message on behalf of America: We thank you for your service, we are proud of you and America stands solidly behind you," said Bush, who wore a gray military jacket bearing the patch of the 1st Armored Division.

"Each one of you has answered a great call, participating in a historic moment in world history," he added. Afterward, Bush plunged into the crowd to meet and shake hands with soldiers. He then helped serve Thanksgiving dinner, joking with troops about food choices. "What do you want? How many do you want, one or two?" he asked soldiers moving through the line.

Pvt. Stephen Henderson, 19, of Inglewood, Calif., an infantryman, said he expects to be in Iraq five or six more months and said Bush's appearance was such a boost that "I almost forgot I was even here."

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One after leaving Baghdad, Bush said, "It was an emotional moment to walk into that room. The energy level was beyond belief. I mean, I've been in some excited crowds before. But this place truly erupted. And I could see the first look of amazement and then look of appreciation on the kids' face."

Although Bush's visit was a rare instance of a president leaving the country unannounced, presidential visits to strife-torn countries are not uncommon. President Franklin D. Roosevelt slipped out to the historic Yalta Conference in the waning days of World War II to plan the future of Europe with British and Soviet leaders.

As president-elect, Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the Korean warfront in 1952, while President Lyndon B. Johnson, traveling in Asia in 1967, made an unscheduled stop in Vietnam at the height of the war shortly before Christmas. President Richard M. Nixon went to Vietnam in 1969.

On an earlier Thanksgiving, in 1990, President George H.W. Bush visited U.S. troops deployed in Saudi Arabia in the run-up to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. And President Bill Clinton visited Bosnia in 1997.

President Bush's Iraq visit comes at a time his political strategists, who once thought his handling of the war on terrorism could make his reelection bid a cakewalk, now fret that the mounting casualties and chaos in Iraq could cost him the election if the public becomes convinced that he mishandled a war of choice.

In the face of recent violence in Iraq, the presidential visit did achieve one important goal, U.S. foreign policy experts said. "It was certainly an effective way of communicating that Iraq is secure enough for him to travel there. It's a place that Bush can go without asking anyone's permission," said Moises Naim, editor of Foreign Policy magazine.

On the eve of a visit by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to Iraq, Bush's trip also addresses recent criticism of his behavior. "He has been accused somewhat unfairly of not caring about the troops or visiting the wounded. But what he has done is provide a very tangible expression of his commitment to the war and to winning," said Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who recently returned from Iraq.

Yet for all the danger and drama of the Iraq trip, it may not have a major impact on the situation, some former U.S. officials said.

"It was a gutsy decision, and it was great political theater. It can only help him domestically and in context of army morale, as he's been under criticism for not showing up at Dover [Air Force Base] and places like that. So on a political front, it's a great story and a brilliant public relations coup. But as far as impact on politics or security, it doesn't really make any difference," said Geoffrey Kemp, who was the National Security Council staff director for the Middle East in the Reagan administration.

"In the long run, Iraq will be determined by the Iraqis and the security situation," Kemp added.

James Steinberg, deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, said: "It's an admirable and the right thing to do, but it won't change the reality on the ground one way or the other."

During his brief stay, Bush also met with four of 24 members of the Governing Council, the handpicked body that serves as the Iraqi counterpart to the U.S.-led occupation government. In a short speech, the president said Iraqis now have an opportunity "to seize the moment" to build a free nation, and he promised that the United States will stay until the job is done -- an allusion to critics' charges that the newly revised U.S. exit strategy is an attempt to cut and run before the U.S. presidential election.

But Bush also had a more subtle message for Iraqis, who are divided on what should happen next in the political transition. "I'm confident we will succeed because you, the Iraqi people, will show the world that you're not only courageous, but that you can govern yourself wisely and justly," he said.

The four Iraqis -- three Shiite Muslims and the Kurdish president of the Governing Council -- praised Bush for making the journey. Ahmed Chalabi, the Shiite Muslim leader of the Iraqi National Congress, called Bush's statement about staying the course in Iraq "very important and positive."

Mowaffak Rubaie, a Shiite physician and former exile in Britain, said he came away feeling that Bush is "not going to wobble; whatever the price, he's going to pay. This is a very determined guy who can see through to the fruits of his vision. This is a man with a very clear vision. He reaffirmed his commitment in no uncertain terms that Iraqi is his prime concern, and he's going to see through democracy in Iraq, and it's going to be a model for the region."

Raja Khozai, a Shiite Muslim director of a maternity hospital, said the meeting had been a surprise. The four thought they had been invited to a Thanksgiving party with Bremer and were unaware of the historic visit by a U.S. leader until he walked into the room with troops.

Extraordinary precautions surrounded the visit. The president, wearing a baseball cap pulled down low, was spirited off his Texas ranch Wednesday and taken to the airport in an unmarked vehicle, which got stuck in traffic -- a first since he took office. Bush's father, who traveled to the Crawford ranch for Thanksgiving, was not even told in advance about the trip.

If the news had slipped out before the visit, Bush told reporters on the way home, he was prepared to abort the journey midair. "I was fully prepared to turn this baby around and come home," he said.

Asked about the propriety of a clandestine trip halfway around the world, Bush said he would not have taken the journey without journalists. He said he thinks Americans "understand that had we announced this . . . it would have put me in harm's way, it would have put others in harm's way."

Bush said the soldiers "needed to see me." He added: "They don't get to see me all the time. Sometimes, you know, they read things, and they got to see me, and they saw my determination and my support and respect for what they're doing."

The presidential plane flew into Baghdad International with its lights off and was escorted by fighter aircraft, a military official in Baghdad said. Troops on the ground secured the airport's perimeter to ensure that no one with a shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile could have come close enough to fire at the plane.

"There's always a risk in leading, whether it's physical or political. Certainly when he went in, he did so without warning; he did so with full countermeasure coverage. He flew into a largely secure area, so I think no, frankly, I would say the risk is perfectly acceptable," Cordesman said.

Bush's trip comes just days after insurgents attacked a DHL cargo jet with what was thought to be an SA-7 shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile. The missile hit one of the aircraft's wings, but it landed safely.

Bush was to return to his ranch in Crawford, Tex., on Friday before dawn, after stopping at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to refuel.

Correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran in Baghdad and staff writer Vernon Loeb in Washington contributed to this report. Wright reported from Washington.