In another
surprise visit to Baghdad, Condi and Rummy are trying again to show that they know how to play nice together, and to tell the world that this time it's going to work.
"The turning point here is that Iraq now has its first permanent government, and that it is a government of national unity, and it gives Iraq a real chance to deal with the real vexing problems that it has faced," she added.
Ms. Rice and Mr. Rumsfeld planned a day of joint appearances and briefings that administration officials say reflected a need for the United States to send a signal that their two departments will try harder to work together to help the new government avert a further slide toward civil war.
There was an atmosphere in her entourage that this visit offered perhaps a last chance to reverse some of the mistakes of the last three years in providing security for Iraq, getting the oil and power systems back and curbing sectarian hatreds and corruption within the Iraqi government.
It seems that all this administration can do in Iraq is "send signals." It's been three years of photo-ops and soothing statements. From "Mission Accomplished" (1090 days ago) to plastic turkeys to purple fingers, all that the administration has managed to accomplish is the photo-op, the grand facade of competency.
Meanwhile, al-Zarqawi responds to the new government with a videotape,
dismissing the new Iraqi government as an American "stooge" and a "poisoned dagger" in the heart of the Muslim world. He also warned of more attacks to come. . . .
More than 100 Iraqi civilians or police have been killed in insurgency- or sectarian-related violence since al-Maliki was tapped as Iraq's prime minister designate on Saturday and asked to choose a Cabinet for a national unity government.
All the puffed-up words and pretty pictures incompetent U.S. officials can come up with won't dispel the fact that this "unity" government cannot create unity in Iraq or quash the insurgency.
Update [2006-4-26 13:21:47 by mcjoan]: In the comments dannyinla has this reminder about first permanent governments:
I think you're also going to have the first permanent government now. Because these have been temporary governments, it's not been easy for them to develop the kind of roots that they probably need to deal with many of Iraq's problems. (Secretary Rice, November 11, 2005)
