U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday to support a new Iraqi government, Reuters reported. Rice said she wanted to discuss ways to move the political process forward in Iraq to help quell an insurgency that has killed more than 400 people in just over two weeks. "The insurgency is very violent but you defeat insurgencies not just militarily -- in fact not especially militarily -- you defeat them by having a political alternative that is strong," she told reporters traveling with her on the plane. "The Iraqis ... are now going to have to intensify their efforts to demonstrate that in fact the political process is the answer for the Iraqi people." Rice flew to Iraq in secret and under extremely tight security, landing in Arbil in Kurdish northern Iraq, 220 miles (350 km) north of Baghdad. After landing she flew to Salahdin in a helicopter to meet Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
