Brain Fertilizer

U.S. Officials have met with insurgency leaders in Iraq.

When asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about the report of the two meetings, Rumsfeld said: "Oh, I would doubt it. I think there have probably been many more than that."

You don't just meet and resolve all issues in one sitting. You send out feelers, low-level leaders meet, passing on messages, gradually building up to high-level meetings in which a breakthrough can happen.

It seems like we are in the midst of this process here.