Okay. Now The Trip Becomes Worrisome

We now have something a little more problematic. We know another soldier was killed since Bush's morale-booster, but now comes the spin:

After surprise visit, Bush says troops' morale is high in Iraq

"I'm pleased to report back from the front lines that our troops are strong, morale is high and our military is confident we will prevail," he said in his weekly radio address, taped today at his ranch near this tiny Texas town.

"My message to the troops was clear: your country is thankful for your service, we are proud of you, and America stands with you in all that you are doing to defend America," he said.

Okay. He's getting his political mileage out of this. Time to question this deal.

How is he able to make this blanket assessment about their morale from a two-hour visit? Just hours before Bush's trip hit the wires, there were stories like this one:

I am proud to serve in the Army, not because I agree with the reasons we came over, but because we're doing what we have been ordered to do...You may hear that morale is low, and that we complain about being over here instead of home. This perception is accurate.

And this one from Reuters:

In Senate testimony last week, Pentagon officials acknowledged reports of morale problems in some units serving in Iraq, and said the Army Reserve had fallen short of its goals for re-enlisting existing members.

Beyond the morale talk, I'm having a problem with the bravado factor. The more the White House brags about this - and they are - the more they're rubbing the faces of the Iraqi anti-Americans into the fact that they got away with pulling this off.

The boasting which will come in the days ahead by FoxNews' pundits, as well as using the other nets as conduits, is not going to blow a hole in the morale of those who are killing our soldiers. It can only piss them off more.

Let's hope we haven't whacked that hornet's nest one time too many.