Why do you think ole' Dickey is over there right now surviving yet another failed bombing attempt on his life? He's beating the tables with his fists giving the evil eye to the Iraqi Parliament and demanding they stay on the job, or else!

...In the interview, Rose also noted that Rice once worked for President George H.W. Bush, who was "famous for insisting there be an exit strategy. [But] no one seems to know what's the exit strategy [now]," he said. Rice responded that Iraq is "a long-term proposition."

When Rose asked Rice if the administration was "looking for a strategy for the United States to exit from Iraq." Rice answered, "No, we're looking for a strategy that is going to do what we went there to do."

Now was that "incompetent" or "deliberate?"

The vice president had arrived unannounced in Baghdad early Wednesday to tell Iraq's government "it's game time," a senior Bush administration official said.

The senior administration official summarized Cheney's message: "We've got to pull together. We've got to get this work done. It's game time."

An important topic on Cheney's agenda is to persuade the Iraqi Parliament to forgo its planned two-month recess. The Bush administration is pushing for members to keep working on legislation, such as a measure on oil revenues.

"The reality is, with the major effort we're making, the major effort the Iraqi security forces and military are making themselves, for the Iraqi Parliament to take a two-month vacation in the middle of summer is impossible to understand," Ryan Crocker, the United States' new ambassador to Iraq, told reporters.

The quick formation of the RJF -- almost totally ignored by the Western media -- has brought relief to American and Iraqi officials, who feared the disintegration of a more moderate resistance in the face of the al-Qaeda threat. But the relief has been short-lived. The growth of the RJF, its ability to appeal to a broad political front, and its organizing skills have been felt throughout Anbar Province and far into the north. And while the RJF has vowed that it will fight the takifir current of al-Qaeda and marginalize the more extreme elements inside the resistance itself, its ability to quickly root itself into the populations of the Sunni heartland, just weeks after its establishment, has provided little relief to hard-pressed American and Iraqi military units.
[...]

I've just seen a statement announcing the creation of the Jihad and Reform Front, encompassing part of Ansar al-Sunna, the Islamic Army of Iraq, and the Mujahideen Army. The announced goals: expelling the occupiers, establishing religion, government by sharia, and a moderate approach to Islamic doctrine (i.e. against strict enforcement and takfiri practices). It rejects the legitimacy of the constitution, 'sectarian elections', and the Maliki government. It calls on all factions of the jihad to join with it, and specifically invites the 1920 Revolution Brigade, and urges all to avoid side battles at the expense of the main battle against the American occupation. While the language is typically religious, the focus is exclusively Iraqi, and says nothing about wider global jihad.

Cheney arrived a day after a majority of Iraqi parlimentarians signed a petition in favor of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Actually, last fall 131 signed a similar petition. By the rules of the Iraqi parliament, such petitions have no force. The sense of those deputies was communicated to a committe, which promised to report out the resolution to the entire parliament, which it apparently never did. So, Tuesday's move shows a 10% rise in commitment to the principle of withdrawal over 6 months ago, but may be no more consequential. A petition is not a vote, and is a sign of how powerless the parlimentarians feel.