last throes?

So it looks like Cheney wanted the press out.

Earlier Wednesday

BAGHDAD - Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that Iraq remains a dangerous place, a point underscored by a thunderous explosion that rattled windows in the U.S. Embassy where he spent most of the day.

"They do believe we are making progress but we have a long way to go," the vice president said.

Interestingly, reporters were moved to secure areas but the VP was not.

Update to this story in the WSJ:

Once safely ensconced in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, however, Cheney appeared to reserve his toughest language for his normal target – the press. Cheney held a lot of photo ops with key Iraqi leaders like Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, but was adamant about not taking questions. At one point, Cheney emphasized to the assembled journalists that “this is just a photo spray.” Later in the day, as reporters filed into an embassy conference room for another photo of Cheney they overheard him tell his staff “then we kick the press out.”

aha!

In other war news...

Updated 5:34 PM The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a strict new order telling "all employees to wear flak vests and helmets while in unprotected buildings or whenever they are outside." So much for the "safer" Green Zone.

Bush said that he would veto again the "Democrats new Iraqi bill" if it only funded troops through the summer months. "Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that such short-term funding would be very disruptive and "have a huge impact" on contracts to repair and replace equipment."

And The Hill reports that "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to take President Bush to court if he issues a signing statement as a way of sidestepping a carefully crafted compromise Iraq war spending bill." Go Nancy.

BREAKING: PROPAGANDA NEWS
Raw Story reports that "Months before the US invaded Iraq, Pentagon planners were developing an elaborate propaganda campaign to ensure US government-"approved" information was broadcast to the Iraqi public, according to a previously classified White Paper released Tuesday by the independent National Security Archives."
You HAVE to read this. Anyway, despite all the dirt dragged up, the plan didn't seem to work, did it?