Dec 7, 2008 7:15 am US/Pacific
Rice Takes Responsibility For Iraq Occupation Woes
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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Rice was President George W. Bush's national security adviser when the war began in 2003. She says it wasn't former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's fault that things went badly when the U.S. began to occupy Iraq after driving out Saddam. (File)
AP
Condoleezza Rice is taking responsibility for the troubled U.S. occupation in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
Rice was President George W. Bush's national security adviser when the war began in 2003. She says it wasn't former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's fault that things went badly when the U.S. began to occupy Iraq after driving out Saddam.
She says military operations went very well in removing Saddam from power. But she says the U.S. did not have what she calls the right structure in place to handle the occupation.
Rice says the Bush administration put a single department -- the Pentagon -- in charge of running Iraq. Rice-who's now secretary of state-says that wasn't the right approach.
Rice made her comments on "Fox News Sunday."
On ABC's "This Week" and "Fox News Sunday," Rice also said the potential of a terrorist attack remains the greatest threat facing the United States and that she is still concerned about terrorists seeking to plot against the U.S. She said the U.S. must have the right kind of intelligence and law enforcement systems in place to disrupt potential terrorists.
Rice also says the Bush administration still wants to see al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden brought to justice. But she says al Qaeda is more than what she calls a one-man organization and that the U.S. has killed many al Qaeda leaders.
She called Hillary Rodham Clinton a good choice for secretary of state.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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