久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>World
         
 

Rice aims to calm Congress' fears on Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-19 22:10

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to reassure jittery Congress members who want specifics about the United States' path to success in Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice looks on during a joint news conference with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after their meeting in Moscow, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005. Rice faces a jittery Congress seeking specifics about the United States' path to success in Iraq in her first Capitol Hill appearance in eight months. [AP]

 Republicans and Democrats alike are raising questions about the Bush administration's diplomatic and military plans in Iraq amid a rising U.S. death toll, soaring costs and slumping public support for the war.

"The president and Congress must be clear with the American people about the stakes involved and the difficulties yet to come," Sen. Richard Lugar (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday, when Rice was making her first Capitol Hill appearance in eight months.

"Even if withdrawal timelines are deemed unwise because they might provide a strategic advantage to the insurgency, the American people need to more fully understand the basis upon which our troops are likely to come home," Lugar said.

By State Department design, Rice was testifying before Lugar's committee just days after Iraq apparently approved its first constitution since a U.S.-led coalition ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Her appearance also coincided with the start of Saddam's trial in Baghdad for a massacre of 150 of his fellow Iraqis.

With President Bush's poll numbers dragged down by public discomfort over Iraq, Rice was seeking to reassure lawmakers — who are feeling the heat from their war-weary constituents — that U.S. policies toward Iraq are sound.

But committee members from both political parties were expected to press Rice on options for improving security, advancing the political process and strengthening the economy in Iraq.

Saturday's vote was a political milestone on Iraq's path to forming a legitimate democratic government. Efforts by skeptical Sunni Arabs to defeat the charter appear to have failed, but the Bush administration has embraced their unexpectedly large turnout at the polls as a sign democracy is taking root.

Lugar called the vote a welcome development, while noting, "The larger hope of reaching a political settlement between all the major ethnic groups has not been realized."

Urging caution, he added, "We cannot assume that the establishment of democratic institutions in Iraq in the short term will yield corresponding diminishment in the insurgency."

The Bush administration contends that progress on political and military fronts is linked. It believes that as Iraqis take steps to establish a new government, minority Sunnis will gain confidence in the democracy and quell the insurgency.

The next step is in December, when Iraqis elect a new parliament and a new government — the first permanent, constitutional government since Saddam's regime ended.

When Iraqis assume responsibility for both running and securing their own country, the administration hopes the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq will be able to start returning home. But the White House has refused to put a timetable on possible withdrawal.

That's frustrated Democrats, who for the better part of the year have been calling for a pullout plan. In recent months, Republicans also have started to voice concerns that the administration's exit strategy is murky.

Rice's appearance, her third before the committee since the president nominated his former national security adviser to lead the State Department, follows her diplomatic missions last week to Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, France, Russia and Britain. Rice discussed with European allies U.S. concerns about Iran's disputed nuclear weapons program and Syria's alleged continued involvement in Lebanese politics.

In recent weeks, the United States has stepped up its accusations that Iran and Syria are interfering in neighboring Iraq.

U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey, a senior adviser to Rice on Iraq, said Tuesday that Iran and Syria "are not being helpful in terms of controlling borders and political processes."

"It is very important for Iraq to have normal relations with all of its neighbors, including Syria and Iran, and it is very important for those neighbors to behave," Jeffrey added.

Wednesday's was the 30th hearing the committee has held on Iraq since January 2003. Lawmakers have been gearing up for the hearing since summer, when the panel sought the opinions of top foreign policy scholars on ways to improve U.S. policy in Iraq.



Saddam on trial Wednesday
Rumsfeld in town to discuss military exchanges
Franz Muentefering to be German vice chancellor
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

President Hu meets with US defense secretary

 

   
 

Wilma strengthens to Category 5 hurricane

 

   
 

Blueprint unveiled to right growth imbalances

 

   
 

Earthquake death toll rises to 79,000

 

   
 

Saddam pleads innocent, gets into scuffle

 

   
 

Guardian admits Taishi reporting false

 

   
  Saddam pleads innocent, gets into scuffle
   
  Earthquake death toll rises to 79,000
   
  Kurd named as chief judge in Saddam trial
   
  PetroKazakhstan shareholders OK CNPC bid
   
  Iran detains more than 20 over bombings
   
  Final results from Iraq referendum delayed
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 美女张开腿让男人 | 欧美午夜精品久久久久久黑人 | 日韩成人在线观看视频 | 国产亚洲精品yxsp | 亚洲毛片一级巨乳 | 亚洲精品人成网线在线 | 日本一级特黄大一片免 | 99久热在线精品视频播放6 | 久久国产亚洲精品 | 日韩中文字幕免费观看 | 国产精品久久久久久久毛片 | 大看蕉a在线观看 | 亚洲国产天堂久久综合网站 | 国产精品亚洲第一区柳州莫青 | 国产日韩高清一区二区三区 | 黄色日韩网站 | 亚洲经典乱码在线播 | 国产精品毛片 | 国产一区二区福利久久 | 白云精品视频国产专区 | 天天看夜夜操 | 亚洲日本视频 | 免费的特黄特色大片在线观看 | 黄频免费影院 | 97在线碰碰观看免费高清 | 小屁孩cao大人免费网站 | 一级淫片免费视频 | 日本一级毛片视频无遮挡免费 | 国产一区二区三区精品视频 | 一本久道久久综合中文字幕 | 九草在线免费观看 | 99热久久精品国产 | 一区二区三区在线免费看 | 一级毛片在线免费播放 | 久久久久一级片 | 国产精品久久久亚洲 | 久久99精品综合国产首页 | 亚洲欧美一区二区久久香蕉 | 美女视频一区二区三区在线 | 三级c欧美做人爱视频 | 成人毛片在线观看 |