On his way to a scheduled trip to Israel and the West Bank, Vice President Cheney made an unannounced stop in Iraq. Now five years since the invasion commenced, the Vice President met with Prime Minister Maliki to push him on political reconciliation. While he described changes since his last visit ten months ago as “phenomenal“, Cheney may want to recall his top commander's statements last week. General Patraeus noted the lack of political reconciliation, revealing that no one in the U.S. or Iraq government felt progress has been sufficient. Cheney also plans to discuss a long-term security agreement, perhaps tying the hands of the following administration.
On the next stop of the Vice President's trip, he will endeavor to keep both the Israelis and Palestinians to uphold their obligations set out in the road map. I would like to invite our readers to comment on what the Vice President might do or say to bring both sides to respect the road map and to promote the now stalled negotiations.
