<![CDATA[RealClearPolitics - Articles by Toby Dodge]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/?id=17222Author <![CDATA[Despite Optimism, Iraq Close to the Edge]]> Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0600 George W Bush, barely a month away from leaving office, flew to Baghdad last weekend for an eight-hour visit. On Wednesday, it was Gordon Brown's turn. The arrival of president and prime minister in the Iraqi capital is part of a concerted effort to draw a line under the debacle that Iraq has become for the American and British governments. After nearly six years of occupation, Bush was keen to stress the progress he claimed had been made.

"The Iraq we're standing in today is dramatically freer, dramatically safer and dramatically better," he told American troops. Brown was a little more circumspect, simply declaring: "We leave Iraq a better place." The startling actions of Iraqi...]]>