Rice Make Surprise Visit to Iraq

CNN:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that improvements in security in Iraq have provided a window of opportunity in which political reconciliation should take place.

"One reason that I am more hopeful being here today, at the end of 2007, than perhaps a year or so ago is that these improvements do show that Iraqis can count on a future with this democracy, a future in which violence is not necessarily a daily way of life," she said. "But it's going to take a really large effort by these political leaders to push forward."