Rice and Rumsfeld visit a blow to Zarqawi

AP/NY Times:

Success in forming a new Iraqi government may let some U.S. troops leave the war zone within months, the top American military commander in Iraq said Wednesday. Paying a surprise visit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld embraced the country's fledgling leaders as independent and focused on the future.

''I came away most encouraged,'' Rumsfeld said after he and Rice spent a day meeting with Iraqi politicians and U.S. military and diplomatic advisers in the capital city.

Rice called the priorities and commitment of Iraq's newly selected prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, ''refreshing and really heartening.''

The double-barreled show of support for Iraq's first permanent democratic government was meant to resonate in Iraq and among Americans, whose frustration with the war effort has helped drive President Bush's poll numbers to new lows.

...

While the writer did not notice, the visit highlights the contrast between the empty bravado of Zarqawis video posturing and the real world where two high goverment officials can have a public meeting and he would risk death to show his face in Baghdad. It shows his weakness only a day after he tried to pump himself up by hiding behind a video camera.

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