A friend of mine sent me the following, I thought it was pretty interesting...

Dick Cheney's quick little visit to Iraq on Sunday was interesting not because of the timing (in the immediate aftermath of elections), and not because of any significance in the Vice President dropping in to show U.S. support for a nascent democracy.

It was interesting because the Prime Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, apparently had no idea Dick was coming. The U.S. administration has maintained (since the last elections) that Iraq is a sovereign nation. But if a country is sovereign, presumably that country has the authority to decide who is allowed to visit, and when. And if a country is sovereign, normally that country's leaders would be aware of a senior foreign official's plans to drop in for a tour or a chat. Not Iraq. It's all about security, the U.S. says, but it's surely a little insulting to Iraqis to suggest that we can't even trust their Prime Minister, and certainly far more insulting to the sovereignty of a nation when U.S. officials feel they
can come and go as they please, not only without visas, but without even letting their hosts know.

Another interesting tidbit is what Mr. Cheney, according to Reuters, said to reporters when in Baghdad: "I'm delighted to have the opportunity to spend some time today to look at the situation in Iraq, finding out on the ground how it feels, especially after the tremendous elections we had." (Emphasis mine.) I was not aware that Mr. Cheney held Iraqi citizenship. If he
doesn't, then his referring to the Iraqi elections as "ours" is about as telling a sign of this administration's attitude towards Iraq as there has ever been. And the Iraqis will notice, even if we don't.

I don't know the source but whoever wrote this raises several good points doncha think?