In February 2007, it was reported that Rice encouraged lawmakers to support President Bush's troop increase by saying it would be a mistake to micromanage the Iraq war. In December 2007, Rice made her eighth visit as Secretary of State to Iraq, making an unscheduled stop in Kirkuk before proceeding to Baghdad, where she called on Iraqi leaders to urgently implement a national reconciliation roadmap. On January 15, 2008, Rice took a detour to Baghdad from a Middle East trip with President Bush, where she congratulated Iraqi leaders. She said the process of reconciliation was coming along "quite remarkably." At a news conference, she welcomed a decision to let Saddam Hussein supporters return to government jobs, saying: "A democratic and unified Iraq is here to stay. And while it may have challenges, it has passed through some very difficult times and is now moving forward in a way that is promising, yet still fragile." Rice's visit came as Iraq's defense minister told "The New York Times" he envisioned US security help until 2018 or later. On April 20, 2008, Rice made yet another unannounced trip to Baghdad, this time to promote what she called the "coalescing center" of Iraqi politics around Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood continued during Rice's visit, and the Green Zone endured three rocket attacks; visibility was so poor due to dust storms Rice had to take a ground convoy into the city rather than flying. Referring to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Rice said she recognized that the "Sadr trend" is a political movement as well as a militia. "Any Iraqi who's willing to lay down their arms and come into the political process and contest in the arena is welcome to do so," she said. "That would include the Sadrist trend." On June 9, 2008, Senators Carl Levin and John Warner, in a letter to Rice concerning U.S.-Iraqi negotiations on a strategic framework and status of forces agreement, demanded that the administration "be more transparent with Congress, with greater consultation about the progress and content of these deliberations." Levin and Warner also wrote that Congress, "in exercising its constitutional responsibilities, has legitimate concerns about the authorities, protections and understandings that might be made" in the agreements." On October 16, 2008, after several more months of negotiations, Rice and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates briefed senior U.S. lawmakers on the draft SOFA, and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki prepared to circulate it with Iraq's Political National Security Council before going on to the Council of Ministers and the Iraqi parliament.