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| Europe |
| Rice Tells Europe to Move Past Conflicts |
| 2005-02-08 |
| Edited for length PARIS (AP) -- Trying to mend fences with Europe, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday "it is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past" that alienated longtime allies over the U.S. invasion of Iraq. France was the most vocal opponent of President Bush's handling of the war with Iraq, and the new secretary of state deliberately chose Paris for the major address of her first official tour of Europe. But Rice did not back down from Bush's pledge to spread freedom across the globe and added a challenge to Europeans. "America stands ready to work with Europe on our common agenda and Europe must stand ready to work with America," she said in a speech at Paris's Institute of Political Studies. Following her speech, Rice answered a series of questions, ranging from Iraq's effort to establish a democracy to the development of biological weapons. She told the students and guests that the Iraqis would now engage in a political process to form a government that was not at odds with religion. "What we must understand there is no inherent conflict between Islam and democracy," she said. Earlier in Rome, Rice said she is optimistic about the chances for Israel and the Palestinians to reach accommodation, in part because of a new thirst for peace throughout the Middle East. She cautioned that "there is still a long road ahead." "There seems to be a will in the Middle East because people want to live in a different kind of Middle East," Rice said. She had harsh words for one neighbor of Israel. "Syria has been unhelpful in a number of ways," Rice said, adding that Syria knows it must clamp down on terrorism before relations with the United States and the rest of the world can improve. "I would hope Syria would not want to be isolated and would not want to have bad relations with the United States. ... I would hope Syria would react in a more positive way. "You cannot on the one hand say you want a process of peace and on the other hand support people who are determined to blow it up." She also underscored her position that the new Palestinian leadership will need to move resolutely to control violence against Israel by its own people. She acknowledged limitations of the Palestinian security forces that the United States will work to shore up, but said "there are places where they can act ... and they need to act where they can act." For example, she said when the Palestinian forces arrest someone, they should hold them, when they see a bomb-making facility they should destroy it and when they see smuggling they should stop it. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 i.e. Dr Rice sez: GET OVER IT! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-02-08 8:03:09 PM |