Rice, Rumsfeld Visit Sets Off Criticism in Iraq, Tension Btwn Them Obvious

Visit by Rumsfeld, Rice Sets Off Criticism in Iraq

Some leaders worry that the Americans' surprise trip could hurt talks on forming a government. Analysts see an effort to shore up U.S. opinion.

By Louise Roug and Paul Richter, Times Staff Writers
April 27, 2006

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.

Saadi said Iraqi leaders had not been given advance notice of the visit, which came just days after Iraqi politicians broke through a months-long impasse on the selection of a prime minister.

"Maybe Rumsfeld's visit can be justified" because of American troop presence, "but I can't see a clear reason behind Rice's visit," Saadi said. "The crisis is over and negotiations are taking place."

Some observers and Iraqi politicians speculated that the visit had more to do with the U.S. domestic audience than the creation of an inclusive and sustainable government in Iraq.

In Washington, the visit was seen as an attempt by the White House to shore up U.S. public opinion about the war and as the first foreign policy calling card of the new chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten.

"I actually think it's completely aimed at American public opinion," said Brian Katulis, Middle East analyst at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. "What's going on here is part of Bolten's plan to signal to the American public that we're not staying there forever."

Ivo H. Daalder, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, said the visit was "all about us."

"We are trying to demonstrate that there is positive direction. How better to do that than having the chief horses of the State Department and the Defense Department make this joint and dramatic appearance. Every newspaper will quote them as saying this is a new turning point."

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Rice, Rumsfeld in Separate Orbits in Baghdad
Visit Highlights Divergent Styles

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 28, 2006; Page A16

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.

Even though her arrival here followed an exhausting sprint through Greece and Turkey, Rice appeared energized by the task at hand. Rumsfeld arrived directly from Washington -- after a recent Asian tour -- but he seemed disengaged and bored, both to reporters traveling with him and to some U.S. officials. Some said he seemed irritated by the whole exercise. He did not speak a word to reporters with him on the flight to Baghdad.

During a joint meeting with reporters traveling with the secretaries, Rumsfeld frequently doodled with a black felt-tip pen or stared absent-mindedly at the ceiling when Rice spoke. Rice would occasionally cast a nervous glance at Rumsfeld as he prepared to respond to a question. His answers were terse; hers were expansive.

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