Did Bush's surprise visit to Iraq help Iraq in some way? [View All]

I'm trying to figure out who was helped by Bush's visit? Who was it designed to help? Who was it designed to communicate with?

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Bush: "I traveled to Baghdad to personally show our nation's commitment to a free Iraq, because it is vital for the Iraqi people to know with certainty that America will not abandon them after we have come this far," Bush said in the radio address.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-17-bush-radio-address_x.htm

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Am I being cynical if I think that a visit by George W. (The W stands for Abu Ghraib) Bush would not help the new Iraqi government very much? I'm not sure a personal visit by Bush would be all that comforting to Iraqis, either.

Picture yourself as an Iraqi. You're sitting there in your home and you happen to catch the news during your eight hours a day of electricity. And there is W smiling and praising your new government. I mean that would scare the bejeezus out of me. I'd be thinking, "Great, just what we need in the middle of a tense situation. Some gasoline and matches."

But if the message of Bush's visit doesn't help Iraqis (as Bush suggests) and wasn't for Iraqis, then who does it help and who was the message for?

And your first two guesses don't count.