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.