WASHINGTON, 19 January 2005 — During the last four years, Condoleezza Rice has been President George W. Bush’s alter ego in crafting US national security policies, including the most questioned one — the invasion and increasingly costly occupation of Iraq.
Yesterday, the somewhat stern, conservative and fiercely loyal Rice sat before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for confirmation as secretary of state. If approved by the Senate, Rice, 50, will be the first black female secretary of state, besides being the first female National Security Adviser.
During yesterday’s hearings, Rice pledged to work with other nations in the “generational struggle” against terrorism. “The time for diplomacy is now,” Rice said before the committee. “Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue.”
Rice said the US faces “daunting” challenges, but also opportunities to foster democracy in parts of the world that haven’t seen it, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. Rice said the recent elections in Palestine were a “moment of opportunity” for peace in the region and said she would spend an “enormous’” amount of time working with Israel and the Palestinians to ensure peace.
But Rice told the senators she couldn’t give them any timetable for a US withdrawal from Iraq. She said any US exit strategy from Iraq is “directly proportional” to Iraq’s ability to defend itself. Rice said the focus right now is security for Iraq’s elections, set for Jan. 30.
The Republican-led panel plans two days of questioning. Rice is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate, possibly as early as tomorrow, the same day Bush takes his oath of office for a second term.
Rice already has started to reshape the department’s leadership, naming US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick as her deputy. They worked together on the National Security Council under former President George H.W. Bush. The choice of Zoellick and the likely addition of Philip Zelikow, executive director of Sept. 11 commission, suggests she is forming a capable team, a former State Department official said.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Ca., asked Rice tough questions yesterday about her role in Iraq policy and charges by former aide Richard Clarke that she and Bush failed to grasp the threat from Al-Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Rice disputed those charges, though the final report of the bipartisan 9/11 commission chastised her and deputy Stephen Hadley for failing to alert security agencies to warnings of an impending attack on US interests.
