Remarks at American Embassy Baghdad Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Baghdad, Iraq
May 15, 2005 CHARGE D’AFFAIRS JEFFREY: Let me introduce someone you know, the Secretary of State, Dr. Rice. (Applause and cheers) SECRETARY RICE: Thank you, thank you. First, just let me say what a thrill to be in Baghdad. I can’t even tell you how excited I’ve been about coming, how delighted I am to be here. I just took the helicopter ride in -- this is a spectacular city, it really is. I want to start by thanking Jim Jeffrey for his leadership of this embassy over the last couple of months. I know that he is a dedicated servant, I see him on our video conferences from time to time, and he has given wonderful leadership and I want to thank him for that and I want to thank him and -- (applause) -- thank all of you -- now I want to thank every single one of you, and I want to start by thanking our men and women in uniform. (Applause and cheers) SECRETARY RICE: You know, you are truly on freedom’s front lines, and we just can’t thank you enough for your service. I know that there are people here who are active duty, I know there are reservists here, I know that you’re away from family and friends and that you’re in harm’s way, but I just want you to know that, just some times even walking down the street, in the United States, you just hear how proud people are, for the job that you’re doing here, thank you very, very much. (Applause) SECRETARY RICE: And I want to thank our diplomats on the front lines of freedom, too. Our foreign service, civil service, the foreign nationals who work with us, the folks who are here from other governmental agencies, and I know that there are a lot of them because we’re doing a lot. I want to thank the contractors. You’re really representing the United States so very well, and I just want to thank you for your efforts here. Now, this is a tough environment sometimes, maybe all of the time, but I want you to stay focused on what it is that we are doing here. You see, this war came to us, not the other way around. The United States of America, when it was attacked on September 11, realized that we lived in a world in which we cannot let threats gather, and that we lived in a world in which we had to have a different kind of Middle East if we were ever to have a permanent peace. It just could not continue to be a Middle East in which dictators like Saddam Hussein paraded around, lived in great palaces, and yet tortured, and oppressed, and just made mincemeat of this wonderful infrastructure here in Iraq. We just couldn’t let that stand, a man who had been a danger to this region for his entire reign. And we had to have a chance to work with people in the Middle East who wanted a different kind of life, because the absence of freedom in the Middle East, the freedom deficit, is what has produced the ideologies of hatred that led people to fly airplanes into a building on a fine September day. People don’t want to be suicide bombers, people don’t want to be suicide hijackers, but somehow the ideologies of hatred in this region have become so great that human beings have been willing to do that to other human beings. The answer to that, as the President has said, is to give people a chance at freedom and liberty. And for many many years, the United States, along with the rest of the free world, believed somehow that people in this region didn’t care about freedom. We cared about stability, and what we got was neither freedom nor stability. We got a malignancy that was growing, that came to haunt us on that fine September day. Now as we work with the people of Iraq to develop a strong and vibrant and vital democracy here in the heart of the Middle East, we can do so assured that these values are universal. There is no point on the Earth where people do not want to be able to say what they think, where people do not want to be able to worship as they please, where people do not want to educate their children, boys and girls, and where people do not want to be free of the knock of the secret police at night. Those are universal values, and America has always been at its best when it is securing, and providing for, and bringing those values to the rest of the world. Because you know something, when freedom is on the march, America is more secure, and when freedom is in retreat, America is more vulnerable. I was just recently in the Netherlands at the anniversary of -- the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, and we looked at the many sacrifices there, at the cemetery where the President spoke, of Americans who had gone a continent away to free Europe from tyranny, and free Europe from Nazism. And you know, in 1946 or 1947 nobody would have guessed, nobody would have dared wager, that you were going to have a Europe today that is whole, free, and at peace and democratic, and a Europe where nobody can even imagine a war between the Europeans and us. It doesn’t even seem imaginable today. And you know, because of the work you do every day, because of your support for democracy here in Iraq, because of the sacrifices that you’ve endured, that day’s going to come in the Middle East too. And our children, and our children’s children, will look back, and they will say, we are so grateful that there were Americans willing to sacrifice, so that the Middle East could be whole, and free, and democratic, and at peace. And that never again would we have to fight terrorists on our soil, in America. So thank you for what you do every day, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I bring you greetings from your commander-in-chief. And I thank the men and women in uniform, I thank the diplomats here and all the others, who are making the dream of freedom possible for Iraqis. And you know, they deserve it. They showed us when they went out and voted in large numbers, that they want it. They deserve it, you’re helping them to get it, and we all appreciate your service. Thank you very very much. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 15, 2005 REMARKS Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Irbil, Iraq May 15, 2005
Irbil, Iraq MR. BARZANI: (Translated from Kurdish) First of all, I would like to welcome Madame Secretary Condoleeza Rice, on behalf of the people of Iraqi Kurdistan, and me personally, and the accompanying delegation for this visit. We value this visit, and we have appreciation for it, we feel honored to have you here, and we see this visit as a kind of reconfirmation of the United States’ support for the people of Iraq, and also for the Kurdistan region, support for the democracy process, and for building a democracy and a federal Iraq. Once again, I would like to welcome you. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much, sir, for the wonderful welcome and the wonderful hospitality. I want to thank the Kurdish people for the great welcome, with flowers, with lovely children, when I first arrived. We have a wonderful friendship and a history of friendship between the Kurdish people and the American people and now we have an opportunity to use that friendship to help to bring about a democratic and unified and federal Iraq. I know that the Kurdish people sacrificed greatly in the last regime and now it is wonderful to see that there is an opportunity for a democratic and peaceful Iraq. Thank you. QUESTION: (Translated from Kurdish.) A question from Kurdistan Satellite television. As you kindly talked about the sacrifice of the Kurdish people, and also the future, could we see any role and any position for the Kurdish people, the Kurdish leadership, in the policies of the United States for the future? And the other question was addressed to President Barzani, through the meetings that you have with high-level officials, Sir, to what extent do you see the role of the Kurdish people in the policies and the cooperation. SECRETARY RICE: Well, one reason that I am here is to have consultations with our friends, we’ve just had those consultations, and I think Mr. Barzani is a very wise man and I have listened thoroughly. We agree that the future now is to have a constitutional process that is inclusive so that Iraq can take the next step toward a democratic and federal Iraq. MR. BARZANI: (Translated from Kurdish) There is no doubt that the Kurds play a major role in the building of a federal democratic Iraq and, the current visit of Madame Secretary is another indicator of the role that the Kurds will play in the new Iraq, in building a federal democratic, and her mere visit is a response to your question. MODERATOR: Anne Gearan, Associated Press. QUESTION: Madame Secretary, U.S. military officials have recently talked to the new Iraqi leadership about getting tougher and doing so more quickly with the insurgency. Do you feel that the new government is saying and doing the right things, and doing them fast enough? SECRETARY RICE: Well, let’s remember that it is indeed a new government, just a few weeks old now, not even a few weeks old, and so I’m here to consult with members of the new Iraqi Government. Obviously, terrorism has to be fought, and it has to be fought actively and aggressively because these terrorists are killing innocent Iraqi people. And I know that all responsible Iraqis, especially the leadership, wants to put an end to that. And so we are - I will be here to talk with them about the role that the coalition is playing in helping to train Iraqi security forces, but I think there can be no doubt that there is only one way to deal with terrorists who are killing innocent people, and that is to fight them. QUESTION: (Translated from Kurdish) A threefold question. First of all, what role do you see, Madame Secretary, for President Barzani in the writing of the constitution for the new Iraq; and secondly, as you concede that Kurdistan is in the forefront of fighting terrorism, is there any specific support or assistance for upgrading the level of security forces in the KRP (inaudible) to the government; and third, economic development and growth, do you have anything specific to help the (inaudible) (being partners and allies with you in this process. SECRETARY RICE: Well, we talked about the fact that the political process, the security situation and economic development are all intertwined and we have already developed a number of projects, economic development projects, infrastructure projects, that we will continue to work with all parts of Iraq. I hope that some of those will benefit this area, including the place in which we stand, Irbil. Secondly, we did discuss the need to increase the security capacity of all of Iraq and all Iraqis and I’m certain that the leaders from this region will participate in that process. And finally, we talked about how Iraq’s democratic founding fathers now will need - and mothers - will need now to have a constitution that is inclusive of all people of Iraq and the very important role that Mr. Barzani can play in that because he has good relationships and respect of many of the people of Iraq. MODERATOR: Last question, Boston Globe. QUESTION: Why is the administration so eager and insistent on having the constitution writing process meet the August deadline? Particularly given that the major parties are still far apart on fundamental issues, and there’s security challenges that make it hard to have the meetings you need to have quickly if you’re trying to be very inclusive? SECRETARY RICE: Well, the August deadline, of course, was set in Iraqi processes, and there needs to continue to be a certain momentum to the political process. But I would just say that we have to remember that the Iraqi people have managed to meet every deadline that they - that was put before them. People said that it would not be possible to transfer sovereignty on June 30th of last year, and it’s amazing, it’s only one year -since the transfer of sovereignty, not even one year since the transfer of sovereignty. People said that the Iraqis would never be able to have elections on January 30th. They had elections on January 30th. I am quite confident that the Iraqis, because they are committed, and they are dedicated and they are determined to make this process work, will find a way to move the constitutional process along so that there can be elections for a permanent government at the end of April. QUESTION: A quick follow up - what’s the significance, what’s the message of you coming straight from America to meet with Mr. Barzani, especially with regard to the future of Kurdish autonomy and territory? SECRETARY RICE: My understanding with Mr. Barzani, and we’ve just had a discussion about it, is that he is one of the many leaders of Iraq, several leaders of Iraq, who are dedicated to a unified and federal and democratic Iraq. He talked about what the Transitional Administrative Law has meant to him personally. Of course the Kurdish people have a very special culture and a very special place. But it is a place within a democratic and federal Iraq, and so I am now in a very important and special part of Iraq. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 16, 2005 INTERVIEW Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
With Richard Engle of NBC May 15, 2005
Baghdad, Iraq QUESTION: Secretary Rice, the Iraqi people we spoke to are not satisfied with the progress, particularly since the swearing in of this new government. Is the United States and are you satisfied with the progress they've been making? SECRETARY RICE: Well, I've been very impressed with the spirit of the Iraqi people, first of all, and it's partly -- part of the democratic process for people to be impatient with it. That's not a bad thing. But if you think about it, this government has been in power a very, very short time. In fact, it's been less than a year since they actually transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi people. And so there are going to be ups and downs. Things are not going to happen overnight. But if you look at what they've achieved thus far, it's really quite remarkable. And they've got hard work ahead of them but we are prepared to try and help. QUESTION: But the people on the ground see the situation apparently getting worse since this new government arrived. SECRETARY RICE: Well, there is no doubt that the terrorists who see a new government now and see, by the way, with every stage of this political process, I think they see their chances to take Iraq off the political path beginning to diminish. And so we should not be surprised that they have been very aggressive since the new government came into power to try and demonstrate that the new government is not going to make a difference. We just have to be persistent. We and the Iraqis have to be persistent. We have to be persistent on the security side in doing the kinds of operations that we've been doing around the country to round up terrorists. We have to be persistent in pressing Iraq's neighbors not to allow terrorists to use their territory for transit. We have to be persistent in trying to help the Iraqis deliver services better than they have been able to do. And the Iraqis have to be persistent in a political process that maintains momentum, that is indeed inclusive, because if it's in inclusive process and all Iraqis begin to see their future in this process, then the terrorists will have very little ground to stand on. QUESTION: And finally, when you talk about inclusiveness, Iraqis from the Sunni triangle do not feel represented at all by this government. They think it is an Iran-backed, Shiite-dominated government. We hear from the officials in Jafaari's government that they area reaching out to the Sunnis. What evidence do you have? Do you believe them? SECRETARY RICE: Well, I do believe that this government is reaching out to Sunnis and has reached out. In fact, if you look at the government itself, it has significant Sunni representation, not just in numbers but in several very important posts, for instance, the Defense Minister is a Sunni Arab. And the question really now is about the constitutional process and we have talked today with the Iraqi leadership about the need to make sure that that process is inclusive. Obviously, the Sunnis, for a variety of reasons, did not fully participate in the elections and some of that had to do with the intimidation of terrorists. Perhaps there were also choices made. But that is now behind the Iraqi people and the future ahead of them is the constitution. And we have talked, and I think found receptive people to the notion that the constitution has to be an inclusive document. In fact, the Iraqis are saying that they are looking for mechanisms that will help deal with the issues of including Sunnis. QUESTION: Secretary Rice, thank you very much for your time. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you, very much. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 16, 2005 INTERVIEW Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
With Nick Watt of ABC May 15, 2005
Baghdad, Iraq QUESTION: Dr. Rice, there were reports yesterday that certain hardline Sunni elements have offered some kind of peace in exchange for a greater role in the political process. Can you tell us anything about this? SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have been having discussions here with the members of the Iraqi Government about an inclusive political process. And how that process unfolds is really for Iraqis to decide. But our view is -- and I think the view of the international community -- that it's extremely important that, as is the case with the government, that the constitutional process be one that includes Sunnis, even though they were underrepresented in the voting and therefore underrepresented in the national assembly. I found an openness to that view because I think that the Iraqi people understand that there has to be one Iraq and it has to be for all Iraqis. QUESTION: But Dr. Jafari is a well-known proponent of de-Baathification, to whatever degree. What was his reaction to your views that you've just expressed? SECRETARY RICE: Well, they were views that were expressed by Dr. Jafari, in fact, that he believes that the future of Iraq is with all Iraqis. When you think about what they have achieved over the last year, it is really quite remarkable. Sovereignty has not even been transferred for one year yet. We forget that. And yet, they have had elections on time despite the fact that many people thought they could not do it by January 30th. Iraqis voted in large numbers. They then put together a government which had broad representation of all groups and they are now about to embark on a constitutional process. QUESTION: Although, I mean, the committee put together to form the constitution -- 55 members, I believe, only two Sunni -- and there is nothing that you can do about that. SECRETARY RICE: Well, we've made the point that whatever the nature of this committee, that it is everyone's view -- and I think it is the view of Iraqis broadly -- that there must be an inclusive process for writing the constitution. The constitution is about the future of Iraq. It has to be a constitution in which all Iraqis see a path to a better future. QUESTION: And you are confident that Dr. Jafari and the other elected officials -- the Shiite officials -- are open to this idea and will welcome involvement from the Sunnis and others. SECRETARY RICE: Well, in fact, Dr. Jafari talked about trying to find different mechanisms by which this might happen. Again, it is not for the United States, the international community, to try and determine the details. This is now a freely elected government in a sovereign nation. But the international community and the United States, in particular, does have a stake in an Iraq that is unified, that is multiethnic and multifaceted, and that really can represent the views of all Iraqis. QUESTION: And you've also pushed or asked for the momentum to be kept up. SECRETARY RICE: Yes. QUESTION: The August 15th deadline for the constitution, is that still realistic? SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Iraqis have made every deadline that they've faced. It's quite remarkable when you think back, all the way back to drafting the TAL, the Transitional Administrative Law, which people said couldn't be done. And then, of course, we transferred sovereignty two days ahead of time. And then when everyone said the elections had to be postponed, they not only surprised the world, but inspired the world, by the way that they went out in large numbers and voted. So I'm confident that they understand -- the Iraqi Government understands -- the need to maintain a political momentum. It is partly meeting deadlines. It's also having a clear view that the Iraqis are themselves being trained now to take a larger role in security, that we're trying to address and they are trying to address infrastructure needs. QUESTION: Although Operation Matador, as we saw, was largely a U.S. operation. How can the Iraqi Government be seen as strong in the face of terror? And a second part to that question is, how difficult is it for the Iraqi Government to be seen as sovereign and powerful when they get visits like this? SECRETARY RICE: Well, I visit many countries that are sovereign and you wouldn't question -- I was in Great Britain not too long ago. I don't think anybody would question the sovereignty of Great Britain. We have been partners with the Iraqi people, first in their liberation. And by the way, yes, American and coalition forces liberated this country from Saddam Hussein, but when the Iraqi people voted on January 30th, they liberated themselves from their horrible, tyrannical past and they said that they wanted a united and joint future. So we're going to continue to be friends of the Iraqi people. We're going to continue to be partners. The international community should be rallying around this extraordinary young democracy that is growing up right here in the heart of the Middle East. But they need help, like many young democracies need help. And so the Iraqi Government before them, the interim government and now this government made clear that they need the help of the multinational force -- a force, by the way, that is here under a UN Security Council resolution, which is here for the expressed purpose of helping the Iraqis defend themselves against terrorists who are killing innocent Iraqis. And so, yes, they need help, but they will eventually be self-sufficient in this area. QUESTION: And you will win this diplomatically rather than militarily? SECRETARY RICE: Well, you defeat the terrorist on many fronts: politically, by keeping the political momentum in a process that is for all Iraqis; in terms of economic development and delivery of services; and, of course, by security measures that the Iraqis can take themselves, that they will take jointly with the coalition forces and that sometimes will have to be taken on their behalf. But in any case, this is a multifaceted approach to defeating these terrorists who would try and stop the progress that the Iraqi people are now making. QUESTION: Dr. Rice, thank you for your time. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 16, 2005 Interview With Jawad Kadhom of Al Iraqiyah Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Baghdad, Iraq
May 15, 2005
QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Yes. The major reason that I am here is because there is now an Iraqi Government, a democratically elected government, and I wanted to come to discuss with that government its priorities. I've had very good meetings throughout the government, talking about maintaining political momentum and also about what needs to be done in terms of the security situation and the economic situation. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Well, clearly, there are people, many of them from outside the country, foreign terrorists, who are determined to try and stop the Iraqi people from having a better future. The Iraqi people voted in huge numbers on January 30th and it was inspirational to the entire world to see the Iraqis vote despite the terrorist threats. And Iraq is emerging now as a democracy in a region that does not have many democracies. And so there are people who want to stop this progress and I think it is not surprising that after the standup of the new government, they would try and make an effort to discredit that government. But because the Iraqi people have elected this government, they won't succeed. And one of the discussions that I have had with the minister of defense, the minister of interior and, of course, with the prime minister is how we can continue to support the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces because the multinational forces and especially American forces want very much to get to the day when Iraqis can take care of their own defense. And we talked about the need to make sure that that program is working very well. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: The President has always said that we do not have an exit strategy; we have a success strategy. And the success strategy is when Iraqi forces are strong enough to defend this young democracy. The Iraqi Government has said -- first the interim government and now this government -- that it needs the help of the international community at this point, it needs international forces to fight off the terrorists and to help defend Iraq. But we want to stay only as long as we are needed. I can assure you that it is the goal of the United States and of other coalition forces to train Iraqi security forces so that Iraq can take care of its own security. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Well, the issue is to do whatever is necessary to stop the terrorists from killing innocent Iraqis because many of the people -- most of the people who are dying in these attacks -- are innocent Iraqis. And so we understand that there is a link between the political process and what is going on now and the writing of a constitution which will start soon and the need for that political process to include all Iraqis, Shia and Kurds but Sunnis as well. Even if Sunnis were not as represented in the elections, it is the strong belief of the United States and, I believe, of the government that Sunnis must be included now in Iraq's political future. It is important to have economic development and infrastructure development. That's another part of dealing with the security situation. But of course, Iraq's neighbors should not support the terrorists and the insurgency. Syria should do everything that it can to make certain that its territory is not being used for terrorism because the terrorists are frustrating the desire of the Iraqi people for a better future and Iraq's neighbors need to respect what the Iraqi people are trying to build here. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Well, thank you. It's been very good to be here in Iraq and I look forward to returning. QUESTION: Thank you. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 16, 2005 Interview With Alia Amil of Al Arabiyah May 15, 2005 Baghdad, Iraq QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: I came to Iraq today because there is a new elected Iraqi Government just formed. I wanted to have an opportunity to talk to that government about its priorities, about how the United States and the international community can be supportive of what Iraq is doing. We talked about an integrated strategy of dealing with the security situation, keeping political momentum through an inclusive political process and, of course, doing what can be done on the infrastructure side to deliver better services to the Iraqi people. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have not heard the reports about Zarqawi, but we, from time to time, when we have information, we are able to act to try to break up some of the terrorist networks. And it's extremely important for the Iraqi people that these operations be done because, of course, the terrorists are now killing innocent Iraqis with their car bombings and their suicide bombings on a daily basis. The Iraqi security forces are also very active in the country and this is just an effort to really go after the terrorists. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Iran is, of course, a neighbor of Iraq and we would hope that Iran and Iraq will have good relations. That would increase the chances for stability. But it should be -- Iran should be a transparent neighbor; that is, that it should be involved in Iraqi affairs as a good neighbor would be involved, not in some surreptitious way. The Iraqi people, it seems to me, are very independent people. They don't want to be governed or to be unduly influenced by any foreign influence and they have their own traditions and I feel will make their own way. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: There is a very grave concern that Syria is a place in which terrorists are gathering and transiting into Iraq. The Syrian Government, as a neighbor of Iraq, should be doing everything that it can to break up these terrorist networks, to arrest these terrorists and to not let their territory be used in this way, because the Syrians are, of course, frustrating the hopes of the Iraqi people by not acting decisively against these terrorists. So yes, there is great concern about what is going on on the Syrian border. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Anything like this would be thoroughly investigated, but I want to speak very clearly to Muslims around the world. The United States is a country that was built on the concept of religious freedom. We have the largest religious group growing in the United States now, Muslim Americans, who practice their religion freely in the United States. The United States would never condone, in any way, the desecration of the Holy Koran or of any other holy book of a religious people. We respect the great religion that is Islam. And so while I can tell people that we would investigate any such charges, I can tell you also that the United States of America would simply not tolerate the desecration of the holy books of a great religion. QUESTION: (In Arabic.) SECRETARY RICE: Well, the clear message is one that is coming from the Iraqis themselves and that is that they need to draft the constitution. It needs to be an inclusive process in which Sunnis also are participating. It is well known that the Sunnis did not fully participate in the electoral process, but this is now about the future of Iraq and Sunnis need to be represented in that future. And I found that Iraqis across the spectrum today talked exactly about that. Now, we are here. The multinational forces are here. There's a UN Security Council resolution that -- under which they are here. And they are here because the Iraqis are not yet capable of defending themselves. You can see in terms of internal enemies, as we've just talked about terrorists who come across the border. We are really determined to train Iraqi security forces, equip them so that they can do the job themselves. But until they're able to do the job themselves, the Iraqis need the help of the international community and we all need to support a free and democratic Iraq and to bring about an Iraq that is stable. That is the goal of the Iraqi people and it's the goal of the American people, too. QUESTION: Thank you very much, Secretary Rice. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 15, 2005 INTERVIEW Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with Richard A. Oppel, Jr. of the New York Times and Jonathan Finer of the Washington Post May 15, 2006
Baghdad, Iraq MR. OPPEL: Your conversations with people today, with Barzani, with Jaafari -- can you talk about some of the specifics? Did you talk about the scope of de-Baathification? Did you talk about having subcommittees and a constitutional committee to include more Sunnis, etcetera, etcetera? SECRETARY RICE: Well, we did, in fact, talk about the need to have de-Baathification that, of course, understands the need for justice but also respects the fact that this now needs to be an inclusive Iraqi process, an inclusive Iraqi Government. So yes, we did have discussions about this. We've had them in the past and we had them today. In terms of the constitution, I did not try to get into specifics about what process they will use to carry the message that the government has done a very good job in including Sunnis in the government, because, you know, several Sunni ministers, including important ministries like the defense ministry, the ministry of industry, but -- and the speaker, of course, of the parliament. But now, it is about writing the constitution and there have been concerns about the committee that was appointed and the Sunni representation on that committee. And I found everybody looking to find mechanisms by which the issue of Sunni participation can be addressed, but we did not -- I most certainly did not try to suggest any mechanisms and I think there are a lot of ideas on the table. MR. FINER: You didn't address it in your remarks earlier, but in some of these interviews it's come up, the relationship between Iraq and two of its neighbors, Syria and Iran. SECRETARY RICE: Yeah, that's true. MR. FINER: Is part of this trip intended to send some kind of a message to those two neighbors? SECRETARY RICE: Well, I was here because, obviously, this is a government that we have supported from the very beginning in the liberation of Iraq and I've been so proud of the way that the Iraqi people have responded now. I think that the January 30th elections (inaudible) -- they really liberated themselves then from their tyrannical past. So, that's what I came to celebrate and to talk to this government. But it is true that there are very deep concerns about Iraq's neighbors and I heard particular concerns about Syria, about the gathering of terrorist networks there and the transiting of those networks across the Syrian border. And Syria is badly out of step in the region, standing in the way of the Iraqi people's desire for peace if it is willing to let its territory be used in this way. It's only recently now beginning to live up to its obligations under Resolution 1559 to get out of Lebanon. And it needs to get everybody out of Lebanon, not just its military forces but also its intelligence forces. And, of course, the Syrians continue to support Palestinian rejectionists at a time when Abu Mazen and the Palestinians are trying their best to create a democratic and transparent government that can begin the process toward the creation of a Palestinian state. So the Syrians need to take a look at where they are and get in step with the region. | 