Rice, Rumsfeld in Separate Orbits in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, April 27 — A full 10 seconds of silence passed after a reporter asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld what the intense secrecy and security surrounding their visit to Iraq signified about the stability of the country three years after the U.S.-led invasion. Rice turned to Rumsfeld to provide the answer. Rumsfeld glared at the reporter.

“I guess I don’t think it says anything about it,” he snapped. He went on to say that President Bush had directed him and Rice to go to Iraq to “meet with the new leadership, and it happens that they are located here,” a reference to the heavily fortified Green Zone where U.S. officials — and many Iraqi leaders — live and work.

Rice broke in, calming the tension. “The security situation will continue to take our attention and the attention of the Iraqis,” she said, adding, “The terrorists are ultimately going to be defeated by a political process here.”

For the second time in a month, Rice traveled to Baghdad to jawbone Iraqi leaders with a high-powered male counterpart. Last time, her partner was British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The pairing with him was convivial, so filled with easygoing banter that it was quickly dubbed the “Condi and Jack Show.”

This time around, Rice and Rumsfeld often seemed in separate orbits, and the visit had little of the warmth of the earlier one. One purpose of this joint trip was to get the sometimes conflicting military and political operations in sync for the transition to a permanent Iraqi government. But the contrast in the two secretaries’ styles was sometimes jarring.
washingtonpost.com

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