Washington's No. 2 diplomat said political progress must quickly follow the security gains from the influx of American troops in Iraq, warning on Sunday that the country risks «falling back to the more violent patterns of the past, according to AP. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who has spent six days touring Iraq _ including visits to former flashpoints Fallujah and Ramadi _ and meeting with its top officials, said the issue of national reconciliation goes well beyond the Iraqi capital. «It's one thing to have brought the violence under some semblance of control, but it's another to follow up» with reconciliation, reconstruction and stabilization, Negroponte said at a news conference in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
