Couching It Diplomatically

(Call It Friday’s Red Dot Special….)

Given her unsurpassed political instincts and deft negotiating skills, Condi descended on Baghdad last week aiming to break the stalemate over who would next lead Iraq.

With British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in tow, Rice (and U.S. Ambassador/Enforcer Khalilzad) held two important meetings.  In one, they met with outgoing Iraqi president Jalal Talbani.  In the other, they sat down with current, incoming and possibly outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.  (Jaafari, backed by Muktada al-Sadr, has been giving Washington fits for refusing to stand down.)

Now, I’m not going to reveal which of these photos is from which meeting**.  I’m not even recommending you read yesterday’s associated NYT story –“Iraqi Says Visit by Two Diplomats Backfired.”  What I will do, however, is make a pitch for the significance of physical arrangement and body language in what would otherwise be considered typical run-of-the-mill newswire fodder.

(**And no guessing by body type.)

(image 1: AP Photo/Pool.  April 2, 2006.  Baghdad, Iraq.  Via YahooNews.  image 2: AP Photo/ Ali Haider, Pool.  April 2, 2006.  Baghdad, Iraq.  Via YahooNews.)