Word: baghdad
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...there in the cockpit of that airplane coming into Baghdad," the President told the press corps assembled on the White House lawn after his dash into and out of the war zone last week. "It was an unbelievable, unbelievable feeling." In fact, George W. Bush's body language-let's call it the full jaunty-was reminiscent of his last, infamous cockpit trip, onto the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln in May 2003 to announce the "end" of major combat operations in Iraq, beneath a mission accomplished sign. His public language is more cautious than it used...
...Kerry gave an eloquent speech to a group of left-liberal activists on the day of Bush's Baghdad trip. "It is not enough to argue with the logistics [of the war] ... or the manner of the conflict's execution or the failures of competence, as great as they are," Kerry said, to wild cheers. "It's essential to acknowledge that the war itself was a mistake." It was an appropriate act of contrition, but then-as is his awkward wont-Kerry overreacted and called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of the year...
...Western diplomat said such sentiments were understandable, but that he hoped the Iraqi government's actions in coming weeks and months will reassure Sunnis and other skeptics. The government also has to convince them that the security crackdown in Baghdad is aimed at insurgents rather than at the Sunni community in general...
President Bush's lightning visit to Baghdad may have helped his political standing at home, but the same cannot be said for his ?host,? Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. For the Iraqi leader - who was informed of Bush's presence in his country only five minutes before meeting him - the President's surprise trip may have been more of a nuisance than anything else. That's because Prime Minister Maliki's effort to achieve a national consensus that can turn Iraq around requires, among other things, that he distance himself, in Iraqi eyes, from the U.S. But the furor...
...which sectarian bloodletting can be blamed on a foreign element that is being liquidated, leaving Iraqis to resolve their differences politically and forge a new consensus. In fact, Zarqawi's elimination - and claims that U.S. and Iraqi forces have followed up with a damaging crackdown on Qaeda cells around Baghdad - has coincided with Maliki's moves towards reconciliation with the Sunnis, including the release of some 2,500 prisoners suspected of aiding the insurgents and the naming of a former Baathist general as defense minister. Not surprisingly, that has prompted speculation that some in the insurgency may be discreetly cooperating...