Every time a major U.S. official visits Iraq, the media trumpets it as a big "surprise":
The top U.S and British diplomats made a surprise trip to Iraq on Sunday to prod the country's struggling leaders to end nearly four months of wrangling and form a new government.This "surprise" visit story is way, way past it's prime. They have to pay "surprise" visits because Iraq is a disaster. It's does amaze me that the traditional media still falls for this.
"We're going to urge that the negotiations be wrapped up," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw flew overnight to the Iraqi capital for meetings with the current interim government and ethnic and religious power brokers.
