Rice, Rumsfeld and political progress

I posted yesterday that Rice and Rumsfeld were sent to Iraq on a political photo-op to present as much good news on the conflict as possible. I also noted that General Casey's timeline for withdrawing troops has been consistent for a year now.

The White House is using only the most simplistic "political progress", however. This may be unavoidable given the circumstances in that country. But, it should be noted that only senior level Iraqi leaders are making the political gains, and only junior level combat officers and units are securing small sections of the country. The root-deep political, social and economic progress necessary throughout the country is not occurring.

The Los Angeles Times shows just how little the administration grasps this:

BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on Wednesday to express support for Iraq's new leaders, but drew criticism from Iraqi politicians who said they feared the unannounced visit might do more harm than good.

"We didn't invite them," said Kamal Saadi, a Shiite legislator close to the new prime minister-designate, Nouri Maliki.