GREENSBORO, N.C. - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the U.S. military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan do not assure those countries will become successful democracies. But she said the chance for success is worth the price.
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Speaking to a largely conservative audience of more than 12,000 Southern Baptists, Rice said she knows optimism can hard to sustain in the face of daily sectarian carnage and beheadings in Iraq.
Although the three-year-old war is increasingly unpopular at home and President Bush's public opinion ratings have sunk as a result, there was little sign of flagging support in the huge convention hall where Rice spoke.
She got repeated standing ovations for her call for continued U.S. engagement across the globe.
"We're standing together with people everywhere who desire these fundamental freedoms," especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, Rice said in a speech to the annual Southern Baptist Convention.
In those two countries alone, "We have given more than 55 million people an opportunity to flourish in freedom," Rice said. "Not a guarantee of success, but a chance."
Rice said the image of Bush embracing the new democratically elected Iraqi prime minister on Tuesday in Baghdad was a reminder of why the fight is worthwhile. The Bush administration hopes that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can contain the violence and rally support for his government, and allow the United States to begin withdrawing some forces from Iraq.
An AP-Ipsos poll taken last week, before the killing of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, showed that more Americans than ever thought the war in Iraq was a mistake. The poll showed 59 percent of adults say the United States made a mistake in going to war, and approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq dipped to 33 percent, a new low.
Just 67 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of conservatives, and 57 percent of white evangelicals believed a stable, democratic government is likely.
Only 68 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of white evangelicals and 51 percent of self-described conservatives — key groups in Bush's base of support — approved of his handling of Iraq.
Rice's speech was partly an attempt to appeal to Bush's political base after a series of disappointments for conservatives, including the administration's handling of the Dubai ports deal earlier this year.
Rice, the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers, was introduced by outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch as "a woman of faith and not ashamed to testify to that."
She referred often to God and prayer, and cast U.S. work overseas, from Iraq to Sudan to the attempts to stem the trafficking of human beings for forced labor or sex, in religious terms.
As she left the podium, delegates in the upper arena began to sing "God Bless America." The whole arena joined in the spontaneous anthem.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060614/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice
Hey that's okay though, Rice says so herself that it is okay that 3,000 plus Coalition forces, 100,000+ Iraqis and 10,000 Afghanis are dead now even though these two places may not become democracies. At least they will be buddy buddy to American politics and that is all that matters.
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Speaking to a largely conservative audience of more than 12,000 Southern Baptists, Rice said she knows optimism can hard to sustain in the face of daily sectarian carnage and beheadings in Iraq.
Although the three-year-old war is increasingly unpopular at home and President Bush's public opinion ratings have sunk as a result, there was little sign of flagging support in the huge convention hall where Rice spoke.
She got repeated standing ovations for her call for continued U.S. engagement across the globe.
"We're standing together with people everywhere who desire these fundamental freedoms," especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, Rice said in a speech to the annual Southern Baptist Convention.
In those two countries alone, "We have given more than 55 million people an opportunity to flourish in freedom," Rice said. "Not a guarantee of success, but a chance."
Rice said the image of Bush embracing the new democratically elected Iraqi prime minister on Tuesday in Baghdad was a reminder of why the fight is worthwhile. The Bush administration hopes that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki can contain the violence and rally support for his government, and allow the United States to begin withdrawing some forces from Iraq.
An AP-Ipsos poll taken last week, before the killing of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, showed that more Americans than ever thought the war in Iraq was a mistake. The poll showed 59 percent of adults say the United States made a mistake in going to war, and approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq dipped to 33 percent, a new low.
Just 67 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of conservatives, and 57 percent of white evangelicals believed a stable, democratic government is likely.
Only 68 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of white evangelicals and 51 percent of self-described conservatives — key groups in Bush's base of support — approved of his handling of Iraq.
Rice's speech was partly an attempt to appeal to Bush's political base after a series of disappointments for conservatives, including the administration's handling of the Dubai ports deal earlier this year.
Rice, the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers, was introduced by outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch as "a woman of faith and not ashamed to testify to that."
She referred often to God and prayer, and cast U.S. work overseas, from Iraq to Sudan to the attempts to stem the trafficking of human beings for forced labor or sex, in religious terms.
As she left the podium, delegates in the upper arena began to sing "God Bless America." The whole arena joined in the spontaneous anthem.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060614/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rice
Hey that's okay though, Rice says so herself that it is okay that 3,000 plus Coalition forces, 100,000+ Iraqis and 10,000 Afghanis are dead now even though these two places may not become democracies. At least they will be buddy buddy to American politics and that is all that matters.
