What a difference a year makes

As pointed out by a letter to the editor in the NY Post:

Ralph Peters, NY Post 6/14/06:

* Iraq has an elected, functioning government of a quality that deserved a presidential visit. Image matters in the Arab world, and the symbolism of our president going to Baghdad to confer with Iraq's prime minister instantly raised that new government's stature.

Ralph Peters, NY Post 6/14/07:

When elections came to the Palestinian territories, the Palestinians voted for terrorists. When elections came to Iraq, the Iraqis voted for ethnic separatists or demagogues.