The Mahdi Interview

Trudy Rubin does what she does best: straight interviews. When she keeps her opinion to a minimum, she is an excllenet reporter.

She interviewed Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi this week.

Of course, she couldn't keep all of her Bush Derangement Syndrome-type comments out of the piece:

From Mahdi's words, one can at least imagine a Shiite-Sunni-Kurd consensus that would undercut insurgents and allow U.S. troops to start drawing down in 2006. No guarantees. But a glimmer of hope.

That is a huge step forward when compared to her other essays.

Admitting your problem is the first step, Trudy. She may one day progress to actually admitting that the Iraqi people are better off now then they were under Saddam...or not. But I do have a glimmer of hope.