Rice Says Iraq
Transition Will Take Time
By ANNE GEARAN
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Iraq's
political transition will take a "couple years," acknowledging the
process that is currently stalled will not move swiftly.
"I think that there is a very good chance that the
Iraqi people, with the support of their coalition partners, will build a good
foundation, a political foundation, for a stable and secure Iraq
over the next couple years," Rice said. "This is a difficult
task."
She added, "We should express confidence in them
because every time they have been confronted with a challenge," Iraqis
have risen to the occasion.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced it was sending up to
800 more troops to Iraq
and repositioning thousands of others in response to increased violence in the
country and fears of more fighting prompted by a Shiite holiday.
Rice spoke after meeting with Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer for talks that also covered Iran's
nuclear program, Indonesia's
development and the recent nuclear deal between Washington
and India.
She urged Iran
to resume negotiations over its nuclear program, while also calling the country
the "central banker of terrorism."
She said she was "quite certain the (U.N.) Security
Council will find an appropriate vehicle for expressing again ... the desire of
the international community ... that Iran
return to negotiations."
Later Thursday, riot police clashed with dozens of Iraq
war protesters outside a Sydney
music school where Rice was due to give a speech. Police on horseback pushed
back a crowd of around 60 protesters in the city center, and led away at least
two protesters.
Rice's remarks echoed President Bush's defense of U.S.
policy in Iraq
this week, as the third anniversary of the U.S.
invasion approaches.
A day before Rice arrived, Australia
said it will keep troops in Iraq
at least well into next year and announced a larger mission for about 450
troops now stationed in southern Iraq.
Iraq will be
the focus of remarks Rice plans to make to university students in Sydney
later this week.
She also will join three-way security talks with Japanese
and Australian officials. Those sessions will include discussions about China's
growing military might and its influence in the Asia-Pacific region, said
Downer.
"The challenge is to make sure that the growing power
of China — its
economic power in particular — is harnessed to the advantage of the
region," Downer told Sky News.
Downer said the ministers would be looking not at containing
China, but at
ensuring it works with the region.
"That depends on China itself — making sure it acts
responsibly, and I think China is acting responsibly — they've been doing a
good job, for example, on North Korea — but also, ensuring that the region
itself understands the growing role of China."
Downer added, "The rise of China
can become a real positive , but it has to be
managed."
Last week, Rice said the three countries must "make
sure that we're looking at a Chinese military buildup that is not outsized for China's
regional ambitions and interests."
That policy has drawn sharp criticism from some analysts.
"What initially seemed like a useful deepening of an
established alliance is fast developing into a prototype security relationship
of the worst kind," Alan Dupont, a visiting
fellow at Sydney's Lowy Institute
for International Policy, wrote in the national newspaper, The Australian.
"One which is exclusive rather than inclusive, risks needlessly alienating
China and looks
like the forerunner to an old-style, Cold War alliance."
Saturday's meeting comes against a backdrop of heightened
tensions between China
and Japan after
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso described Taiwan
as a country.
Although Taiwan
has been self-ruled since splitting with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, China
claims the island as a province and stridently objects to other governments
describing it as a country.
Beijing
described Aso's comments as "a brutal
interference in China's
internal affairs and territorial sovereignty," according to a statement
issued last Saturday by the Information Office of the State Council, China's
Cabinet.
Rice called off an earlier visit to Australia
and Indonesia
in January because of the illness of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The
decision was widely viewed as a snub in Australia,
which had planned the visit to inaugurate the three-way talks with Japan.
The talks were rescheduled for this visit.
While in Australia,
Rice was also visiting U.S.
troops moored in Sydney's harbor
and attending the Commonwealth Games athletic competition in Melbourne.
Posted: 3/15/06
Source: AP
Return to: Condoleezza Rice
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