While I realize that The Forum was only printing the AP article (Dec. 21) "Bush gives grim assessment of Iraq war," in which it mentioned that the new Secretary of Defense Gates had made an "unannounced" visit to Iraq, I just find it interesting that when anyone from the administration goes to Iraq, it is called a "surprise," "unscheduled" or "unannounced" visit.
The truth is, what they are actually doing is sneaking into Iraq. I realize that any public release of a scheduled visit would certainly put the enemy on notice, but it still doesn't change the reality of how you should really describe the nature of the trip.
Peter Hart
Fargo
