It’s been awhile since the Bush administration pointed to the 18 benchmarks meant to gauge political progress and national reconciliation in Iraq, but credit is due the Iraqi parliament for its passage of one of them — a law enabling former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to have government jobs or benefits. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a surprise visit to Baghdad Tuesday, overdid it in describing national reconciliation as moving along “quite remarkably,†but the law counts as welcome progress.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi defense minister said Monday that it would be another four years before Iraq would be able to take full responsibility for its internal security, and it would be at least until 2018 before it could defend its borders.
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