PDA

View Full Version : Rice thanks Camp Pendleton troops for service



thedrifter
05-24-07, 06:57 AM
Rice thanks Camp Pendleton troops for service <br />
<br />
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer <br />
<br />
CAMP PENDLETON -- Allies in the war on terror came together Wednesday to thank Marines and sailors for their...

thedrifter
05-24-07, 07:55 AM
Some Q's, no A's from Rice

By: North County Times Opinion staff -

Our view: The questions we didn't get to ask the secretary of state

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dropped by Camp Pendleton on Wednesday to give our Marines a pre-Memorial Day pep talk. That's quite appropriate and we salute her for it.

But in her quick visit, Rice chose not to speak with the media. We suspect there may be some questions the Marines, ever the gracious hosts, didn't get around to asking. Here are a few of ours:


Six years into the president's "war on terror," how much closer to victory do we stand?

Has the Iraq war you campaigned for and helped plan made our military and our Marines stronger or weaker from a readiness perspective?

Which of the Iraqi politicians you have met strike you as capable of leading that unstable democracy into the political compromises necessary to unite the country?

What role do you imagine U.S. Marines playing in the post-occupation Iraq? When and how do you anticipate that transition starting?

If Gen. Petraeus determines in September that the president's surge strategy isn't working, what's your diplomatic strategy?

After meeting with your Syrian counterpart earlier this month and before you meet the Iranian foreign minister on Monday, can you assess the relative wisdom and success of the Bush administration's half-decade-long refusal to negotiate with Iraq's neighbors?

Do those meetings mean you and the president have adopted any other recommendations of the Iraq Study Group that you initially rejected?

Has your policy about negotiating with terrorists changed? Do you consider Iran and Syria state sponsors of terrorism?

Given last summer's war between Hezbollah and Israel, the chaos and violence in the streets of the Gaza Strip and the battle between Lebanese forces and Islamist rebels, Iran's steady march toward nuclear-power status, Saudi Arabia's siding with Iraq's Sunni insurgents and characterization of our Iraq war as an "illegal occupation," it doesn't seem like President Bush's vision of a domino effect of a democratizing Middle East is any closer to reality than it was in 2001. Is that still your policy goal, and if so, how do you plan to achieve it?

Finally, has your Russian expertise delivered any diplomatic results visible in our relationship to our old adversary? Other than agreeing to use less belligerent rhetoric, were there any tangible benefits from your meeting with President Vladimir Putin last week?

Thank you, Madam Secretary. We'll be checking our e-mail for your response.

Ellie