Making his third visit in four months to Iraq, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Iraq's leaders have to move faster to bring together the warring factions, the Associated Press reported. On his unannounced trip, the Pentagon chief said «The clock is ticking.» «I know it's difficult, and clearly the attack on the council of representatives has made people nervous, but I think that it's very important that they bend every effort to getting this legislation done as quickly as possible,» he told reporters. Gates said again Thursday that the Washington debate has been helpful in letting the Iraqis know that American patience with the war is ebbing. Gates said the Iraqis must, as quickly as possible, push through legislation on political reconciliation and the sharing of oil revenues among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
