Buried in this AP report on U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's surprise visit to Iraq is the fact that this is Rice's first trip there since ... "September." Granted, the world is a big place, and General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker seem to have things moving in a generally positive direction in Iraq, but shouldn't the secretary of state spend more time on, I don't know, the most important foreign policy issue of our age? Guess not, when there are those incredibly productive Middle East peace conferences to plan instead. ... Meanwhile, Secretary Rice hasn't been to Afghanistan since June 2006.