Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Baghdad today to further encourage the Iraq government to solve its political issues:
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney and Iraqi Prime Minister Mouri al-Maliki acknowledged problems in the pace of reducing violence in Iraq on Wednesday, but both pledged their governments would continue working together toward a solution.
"The meeting with the vice president paved a foundation for practical steps to support our efforts working on both the security front as well as the domestic political issues," said al-Maliki as he and Cheney made brief statements to reporters.Al-Maliki is coming under increasing pressure from Washington to demonstrate progress in easing sectarian violence, and Cheney's unannounced visit to Iraq was depicted by U.S. officials as an attempt to press al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to do more to achieve reconciliation among factions.
"We talked about a way ahead in terms of our mutual interests," Cheney said.
Earlier, Cheney got a firsthand briefing on conditions in Iraq and the effectiveness of the U.S. military buildup from the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
"There's a lot going on. This is a very important time. There's a lot to talk about," Cheney said as he met with Gen. David Petraeus and the new U.S. ambassador here, Ryan Crocker.
Petraeus said recently that conditions in Iraq may get harder before they get easier and will require "an enormous commitment" over time by the United States.
Cheney made Iraq the first stop on a weeklong tour of the Middle East that will also include stops in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. The Baghdad stop had not been announced publicly.
Cheney also met with Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, Sunni and Shiite vice presidents, and other government and political leaders.
Aides said the vice president wanted to emphasize that ending the conflict in Iraq cannot done by military means alone and that his mission was to get a sense of the situation on the ground in Iraq and to deliver a message that more work is needed on the political front to overcome divisions and delays.
Added: The first comment for this post was deleted because Cheney death/rape/torture fantasies won't be tolerated.
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Comments (12)
This comment has been r... (Below threshold)1. Posted by levi | May 9, 2007 8:20 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
This comment has been removed by the moderators for violation of Wizbang's comment policy. Future violations may result in this comment author being banned from posting at the Wizbang network of sites.
1. Posted by levi | May 9, 2007 8:20 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 9, 2007 08:20
2. Posted by John in CA | May 9, 2007 9:13 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
was forced to eat his own excretement [sic]
So, just like a normal day in your life.
2. Posted by John in CA | May 9, 2007 9:13 AM |
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Posted on May 9, 2007 09:13
3. Posted by Steve Crickmore | May 9, 2007 9:29 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Cheney's message with Iraqi leaders, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters, was to be: "We've all got challenges together. We've got to pull together. We've got to get this work done. It's game time." Cheney is now the great reconciliator.. Somehow, I don't think basketball metaphors will make a big impression on the Iraqi parliamentarians, either."
3. Posted by Steve Crickmore | May 9, 2007 9:29 AM |
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Posted on May 9, 2007 09:29
4. Posted by Mitchell | May 9, 2007 9:44 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
He's just there bargaining for Halliburton!
He's doing what a serious VP does, ignores the stupid left, and gets on with the task at hand.
If he were a leftist, he'd sit at home all day, typing up something stupid on wizbang, and bemoan how others have conspired to ruin his life.
4. Posted by Mitchell | May 9, 2007 9:44 AM |
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Posted on May 9, 2007 09:44
5. Posted by kim | May 9, 2007 10:57 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Bush is CEO of the world and adding stakeholder value daily, even for the sullen, and Cheney is his COO.
I hope the directors can find adequate replacement. If not, sell.
=======================
5. Posted by kim | May 9, 2007 10:57 AM |
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Posted on May 9, 2007 10:57
6. Posted by kim | May 9, 2007 10:58 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
D'ya suppose they could be hired as consultants?
============================
6. Posted by kim | May 9, 2007 10:58 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 9, 2007 10:58
7. Posted by Richard Romano | May 9, 2007 11:47 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I hope people like levi and BarneyG get banned from commenting--they don't add anything to the debate and all they do is make us sick.
God bless V.P. Cheney, and may he have a significant impact on the political situation there, as well as bring comfort to our brave troops.
7. Posted by Richard Romano | May 9, 2007 11:47 AM |
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Posted on May 9, 2007 11:47
8. Posted by Matt | May 9, 2007 12:01 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I think everybody, including VP Cheney, President Bush and Congress needs to get over this hang-up of getting the Iraqi Government to shape up. It is not going to happen.
The Iraqi Shia's have the government shape they want. They hold the power, the Sunni's and Kurds are basically cut out. Why would the Shia want to "improve" upon that? No matter what, the Sunni's will remain in the minority with marginal effect on the government. Kurds are in the same boat, their only bargaining points are a pretty good military to safeguard their territory from the Shia and the fact that they could sieze/interdict the northern oil fields for themselves.
The Shia's are playing the U.S. The U.S. is doing the majority of their fighting for them. The U.S. are fighting the Sunni in Anbar so the Shia don't have to. THis military pressure in Anbar also keeps the Sunni from providing support to the besieged Sunni in Baghdad. The U.S. success in Baghdad is based on the fact that the Shia Militia have been told to stand down and the Sunni's are running out of fighters and arms and have dropped to primarily defensive mode. The Shia endgame in Baghdad is to have enthicly cleansed the city of non-shia.
8. Posted by Matt | May 9, 2007 12:01 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 9, 2007 12:01
9. Posted by jeff | May 9, 2007 1:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"I hope people like levi and BarneyG get banned from commenting--they don't add anything to the debate and all they do is make us sick."
Yeah, we all know freedom of speech does not fly at wizbang.
"God bless V.P. Cheney, and may he have a significant impact on the political situation there, as well as bring comfort to our brave troops."
Talk about making me sick...that last sentence made me throw up in my mouth a little.
9. Posted by jeff | May 9, 2007 1:53 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 9, 2007 13:53
10. Posted by civil behavior | May 9, 2007 2:09 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Today while Darth Cheney is in Iraq bloviating, an ad sponsored by ex Iraqi vets features a spot done by retired Maj General John Batiste preceeded by a blip about how georgie boy was going to listen to the commanders on the ground.
How do George boy and dick reconcile their lies with the obvious honesty of a few generals?
Watch this first...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPxZLLLb3RY
Then try this one if you have the guts...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/05/09/former-commanding-general_n_48028.html
Would have linked directly if I could have.
Now, what exactly are the talking points for this one. Did Rush give you any?
10. Posted by civil behavior | May 9, 2007 2:09 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 9, 2007 14:09
11. Posted by Peter F. | May 9, 2007 2:48 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The Veep better be pressing Mailaki hard to keep the Sunnis at the table, too.
11. Posted by Peter F. | May 9, 2007 2:48 PM |
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Posted on May 9, 2007 14:48
12. Posted by Adrian Browne | May 9, 2007 3:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Now, what exactly are the talking points for this one. Did Rush give you any?
Posted by: civil behavior
Today Rush's message was that Liberals don't understand the humor in his Barack the Magic Negro song . . . so the Republicans should be free to continue the U.S. occupation of Iraq for as long as they want to, for whatever reason(s) or no reason for that matter.
12. Posted by Adrian Browne | May 9, 2007 3:28 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 9, 2007 15:28