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Rice Defends Iraq, Protesters Cry "War Criminal"
Published on Thursday, March 16, 2006 by Reuters
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Rice Defends Iraq, Protesters Cry "War Criminal"
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by Sue Pleming
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SYDNEY - To Australian protesters'
cries of "war criminal" and "murderer", U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice defended her government's role in Iraq on
Thursday and said patience and sacrifice were needed to finish
the job.
Protesters are blocked by police officers at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music during an address by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Sydney Thursday, March 16, 2006. Rice is in Australia to attend the Trilateral Strategies Dialogue with her Australian counterpart Alexander Downer. (AP Photo/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
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Speaking to students at the University of Sydney's
Conservatorium of Music, Rice said she understood why people
found it hard to be positive about Iraq when all they saw on
their television screens was violence. "I am confident that the Iraqis will triumph, that we will
win in Iraq but we must be patient with these people," said
Rice, who repeatedly thanked Australia for being among the
first allies to send troops to Iraq. There has been a new wave of sectarian killings in Iraq
since the February 22 bombing of a major Shi'ite shrine,
raising concern the country is edging closer to civil war. Soon after Rice began her speech, two protesters were
removed from the room after shouting "Condoleezza Rice you are
a war criminal" and "Iraqi blood is on your hands and you
cannot wash that blood away". Rice, who is on a three-day trip to Australia, immediately
shot back she was glad democracy was alive at the university,
where she said people were free to speak their minds. "I am also especially glad to note that democracy will now
also be alive and well at the University of Kabul and the
University of Baghdad," she said. About 15 minutes into her address another protester
interrupted her speech when she referred to freedom. "What kind
of freedom are you talking about, you are a murderer", said the
demonstrator before being led away. Several protesters were moved away from outside the
auditorium before Rice began. Sharp-shooters were positioned on
on surrounding buildings and security forces looked on from
boats in Sydney Harbor. Australia was among one of the first countries to offer
troops to help with the U.S. war effort in Iraq and still has
about 1,300 in and around Iraq, with a promise to stay into
2007. But with support dwindling for the war in Australia, Rice
sought to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and
said Iraqis were now more free. Earlier, at a news conference with Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer, Rice said it would take several
years for Iraqis to build a stable and secure Iraq but she was
confident they would do it. "We are going to look one day at a stable and secure Iraq
and be very grateful to those like Australia and the United
States who were determined to see the Iraqi people have this
chance," she added. Rice will visit Australian troops at Victoria Barracks in
Melbourne on Friday to personally thank them for their help in
Iraq. She will also lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance. One student asked about abuses committed by U.S. forces at
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to which Rice said it had made her
"sick to her stomach". However, she defended the use of the prison for foreign
terrorism suspects at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, where human rights groups say detainees are being held in
inhumane conditions and their continued detention flouts
international laws.
© 1998-2001 Reuters Limited
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