OK, Really, Iraq is Really Better Off Since We Liberated it, Really, Right??

No. At least not for special visitors like Condi, Our Leader's brain for foreign policy matters (to the extent that President Cheney and the neocon nutjobs aren't).

As the New York Times reports, conditions in Baghad are so dangerous that Rice -- usually the very picture of modern fashion as she touches down in foreign capitals -- was forced to arrive in Iraq "wearing a helmet and a flak jacket and flanked by machine-gun-toting bodyguards to defend against insurgents."

That's once she got there. As the Times reports, the secretary couldn't just fly into Baghdad on her State Department jet and take the customary Town Car ride on her rounds. Instead, Rice had to fly to Turkey, where she ditched her usual plane for a C-17A equipped with antimissile technology. Even that wasn't enough, however. As the military transport plane approached Baghdad, pilots were forced to circle high for about 40 minutes because rocket or mortar fire was coming from somewhere around the airport.

Once Rice finally touched down, the military shuffled her into a helicopter for the short trip to the Green Zone; the highway from the airport is still too dangerous for travel.

Link.