"She left Washington for two days of United Nations business. Rice said the United States wants the UN Security Council to endorse Bush's Israeli-Palestinian peace effort"
WTF? Why HANDCUFF the NEXT GUY YET AGAIN (think sofa in Iraq, readers)? You guys aren't leaving, are you? I know the papers keep saying you are, but given their track record.
"Rice says Iran faces setback in Iraq aims; In interview, backs the war as worth costs" by Associated Press | December 16, 2008
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday Iran has chosen to scale back much of its most troubling interference in Iraq, and she credited the strength of US pressure.
"I don't think it's goodwill," Rice told the Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview covering two wars, the fight against pirates, Mideast peace prospects and more.
The Bush administration's top diplomat, who leaves office in 36 days, defended US intervention in Iraq as an effort worth the cost in lives, money and heartache. Trying to put the unsettling image of an Iraqi television reporter hurling his shoes at a visiting President Bush in the best possible light, Rice said it demonstrates how far the former dictatorship has come.
The shoe incident Sunday in Baghdad "is a kind of sign of the freedom that people feel in Iraq," Rice said.
Speaking before she left Washington for two days of United Nations business, Rice said the United States wants the UN Security Council to endorse Bush's Israeli-Palestinian peace effort as the best chance yet to end the six-decade conflict. The talks begun at Annapolis, Md., last year should not be dropped by the incoming Obama administration for failure to meet a stated goal of a peace framework on Bush's watch, she said.
"The Security Council will make clear that that is the basis" for continuing peace efforts, Rice said. The resolution calls on the Israelis and Palestinians "to fulfill their obligations" under the Annapolis process and for all nations and international groups "to contribute to an atmosphere conducive to negotiations."
Ummm, well WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING the LAST YEAR other than ENABLING ISRAEL to CRUSH?!!!!!
- Said that during her UN trip, she would consult with foreign diplomats on the continuing instability in Somalia and the rampant piracy off its coastline. The administration favors creating a multinational peacekeeping force for Somalia, but is not yet ready to push for a Security Council vote on the matter. Despite concerns by US military officials in recent days, Rice also defended the US proposal for UN authorization to pursue pirates ashore in Somalia. She said the Bush administration is united behind the idea that American or other forces might need to take on pirates under "hot pursuit" on land.
- Urged more pressure from Zimbabwe's neighbors to force President Robert Mugabe to step down, saying the political, economic and health crisis that has developed on his watch "simply can't go on." She said a more comprehensive, regional approach is needed because up to now, "we're putting plugs in a dike."
On Iran, Rice said the clerical regime is finding it harder to operate inside next-door Iraq, and claimed that a turning point was last spring's rout of Iranian-backed forces in the southern city of Basra.
Iran was INSTRUMENTAL in the PEACE AGREEMENT that stopped it! Oh, the REVISIONIST and DELUSIONAL LIES transmitted by the AmeriKan MSM!
"The Iranians find themselves unable to operate as effectively in Iraq because we've been very aggressive against their agents," Rice said in her farewell interview with AP reporters and editors at the State Department.
It better GD well be!!!!
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