Making a surprise visit to Iraq, because announcing such trips in advance would be too dangerous, Dick Cheney said that, "It's good to be back in Iraq," as he praised the "dramatic improvement in security."

Cheney landed at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter into the dusty, heavily secured Green Zone...For security reasons, Cheney officials divulged few details about the vice president's schedule and asked reporters not to report on his location until he had moved on to another...Cheney's motorcade zigzagged through Baghdad to meetings as helicopter gunships circled overhead.

Can a stroll through a bustling Baghdad market be far behind?

According to Cheney's aides, Dick will be highlighting the drop and violence and the progress by the Iraqi government. This after a week that has seen 13 U.S. soldiers and 157 Iraqis killed. And the Iraqi government? It was more than a year ago that George Bush said:

To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution.

...and vowed that "America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced."

But according to Cheney:

...it has been a difficult, challenging but nonetheless successful endeavor ... and it has been well worth the effort.