washingtonpost.com: Dueling Timelines in Iraq
IF A TERRIBLE WEEK in the Middle East shook any of the complacency out of the Bush administration, there was little public evidence. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell traveled to United Nations headquarters to express condolences for the U.N. staffers killed in Tuesday's bombing in Baghdad and to seek more foreign contributions of troops to aid U.S. forces in Iraq. But he came without any stated willingness to do what would be needed to attract such contributions, that is, to share political authority over Iraq with the United Nations. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld continued to maintain that U.S. troop strength in Iraq is adequate. There was no talk of an accelerated effort of any kind to improve daily life for Iraqis.