Violence Surges as Cheney Visits Iraq--WaPo

U.S. Troops Told That Nation Has 'Turned the Corner'

By Jonathan Finer and Naseer Nouri
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 19, 2005; Page A14

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18 -- Violence and civil unrest surged across Iraq on Sunday as Vice President Cheney made his first visit here in more than a decade, praising what he called the "remarkable" turnout by voters in nationwide elections Thursday and telling U.S. troops that the country had "turned the corner."

Shrouded in fortified compounds and shuttled between venues by squadrons of helicopters, Cheney came on a day that underscored the deep economic and security challenges the country faces.

The government sparked angry protests in several cities by announcing a steep increase in fuel prices, currently the lowest in the Middle East and among the lowest in the world. And insurgents ended the lull in violence during the election period by launching a string of attacks across the country that killed more than 30 people, including 20 truck drivers and crew members on a highway north of Baghdad.

Despite possessing one of the world's largest known oil reserves, Iraq imports about $500 million a month in fuel, including gasoline, because its refinery infrastructure is outdated and in disrepair.

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