NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/19/international/middleeast/19cnd-diplo.html?ex=1130385600&en=aed6d26106c7e299&ei=5009&partner=MSN_NYTHOMEBefore Senate Panel, Rice Defends White House on Iraq
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: October 19, 2005
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, facing tough questions about Iraq from Republican and Democratic senators, asserted that progress was being made in securing the country but declined to predict when American forces could withdraw or to rule out widening the war to Syria.
In three and a half hours of hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ms. Rice defended Bush administration policies in tones ranging from conciliatory to combative, rebutting assertions from Democrats that the administration lacked plans to heal sectarian rifts in Iraq, to combat insurgents or to train Iraqis to replace American forces.
"I have said our strategy is to clear, hold and build," Ms. Rice said. "The enemy's strategy is to infect, terrorize and pull down." She explained that this meant efforts to clear out insurgents' sanctuaries, occupy these areas with Iraqi and other forces and build a political consensus while reconstructing the country.
But Ms. Rice seemed to express her own frustration with the slow pace of Iraqi reconciliation and particularly of American allies in the region and around the world to help Iraq achieve its goals. She said that Iraqis "must continue to come together" to build their nation and the government "must forge a more effective partnership" with other countries.