Condi Rice

7 May 2008 -- The senior U.S. diplomat in Burma said Wednesday the death toll from the cyclone that hit the southeast Asian country late last week could exceed 100,000. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meawnhile says the United States is trying to mobilize countries in the region to press the Burmese government to admit more aid workers and supplies.

Typhoon Nargis prior to making landfall in Burma: NASA photo

The top U.S. diplomat in Burma says the situation in the stricken areas of the country is sounding more and more horrendous as reports of damage and casualties trickle in. She says when the final death toll emerges, there could be well over 100,000 fatalities.    » read more »

21 April 2008 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has failed to secure any firm Arab pledges on debt relief for Iraq or greater Arab diplomatic presence in Baghdad.

After a meeting of Arab states in Bahrain, Rice told reporters that a number of countries around the table expressed a desire for having permanent representation in Iraq, but that there were no firm commitments.

Condi Rice meets with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad, Iraq: Photo courtesy US State Dept.

The top U.S. diplomat said she believes it is a process that eventually will move forward.    » read more »

16 April 2008 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the United States needs to overhaul its approach to national security.

Gates told U.S. lawmakers Tuesday there needs to be what he called a "fairly dramatic change" to better protect the U.S. from terrorists and other threats. He said the United States is operating under an outdated security model designed 60 years ago to fight and win the Cold War.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates: White House photo    » read more »

April 7, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) sent the following letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, calling on her to condemn a recent ruling by a prominent Saudi cleric against two Saudi journalists for reporting what he considered heretical articles.

Barack Obama mural, Brooklyn: Photo by Erica (CC)

According to recent reports, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak issued a fatwa last month stating that two journalists should be put to death if they did not retract their articles. Last week, over 100 Arab rights groups also condemned the fatwa.    » read more »

Mar 18, 2008 -- MOSCOW — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed here March 17 for two days of talks with their Russian counterparts aimed at gaining ground on key issues that could forge ahead a missile defense plan for all of Europe.

Speaking to reporters during the flight, Gates said a full range of topics is on the table, including economic relationships, counterterrorism and arms sales. But on top on the agenda is locking in some type of commitment by Russia for the U.S. plan to post defensive missiles in Europe, the secretary said.    » read more »

28 January 2008 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Monday stressed the enduring nature of the two countries' alliance despite Australia's decision to remove troops from Iraq by mid-year. Smith said Australia's troop and diplomatic commitment to Afghanistan will continue.

Smith is the highest-level Australian official to visit Washington since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's center-left government took power in November, ending 12 years of conservative rule by John Howard, a close ally and friend of President Bush.    » read more »

24 January 2008 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting Colombia, beginning Thursday, in an effort to boost support for a free trade agreement with the South American nation.

Rice is leading a delegation of 10 U.S. House Democrats to Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, for a two-day visit. The State Department says Rice is to meet with government officials and union leaders.

The Bush administration says the free trade pact would eliminate virtually all tariffs between the United States and Colombia and would help boost the Colombian economy.    » read more »

Davos, Switzerland, 23 January 2008 – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that American foreign policy must be driven by a combination of ideals and optimism because international problems may be managed but never resolved without them.    » read more »

January 11, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Hi everybody. I'm going to have a special guest briefer: Secretary Rice is going to spend a little bit of time with you and then I will be around to answer anything additional. So I don't think she'll have too much of an opening statement, since you've heard from the President, but she'll take --

SECRETARY RICE: You've heard from the President, so I'll just take your questions. Guest lecturer today. Who would like to start?

Q So do you have any announcement of where we're going? Anything special?

SECRETARY RICE: We're going to Kuwait. (Laughter.)    » read more »

20 December 2007 -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Thursday hailed Canada's military role in Afghanistan and said defeating the Taliban-led insurgency there is crucial to international security. Rice met Canada's Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier in advance of a parliamentary debate in Canada next month on the future of that country's Afghan mission.

The Bush administration is heaping praise on Canada for its Afghan effort amid domestic criticism there that Canadian battlefield losses have been disproportionate and that some other NATO members are not sharing the burden.    » read more »

05 December 2007 -- The U.S. Departments of State and Defense have agreed to a new system of rules designed to increase control over private security contractors working in Iraq.

The move to tighten oversight of private contractors follows an incident last September in which guards from the Blackwater company providing security for a U.S. diplomatic convoy fired on Iraqi civilians killing 17 people.

Company officials say the guards were protecting diplomats when they came under fire, but Iraqi investigators concluded the shooting spree was unprovoked.    » read more »

November 19, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today sent the following letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to address human rights developments in Saudi Arabia and condemn the recent sentencing of a Saudi rape victim to six months in jail and 200 lashes. Obama also asked Rice to include this case in this year's report on human rights that is currently being prepared by the State Department.

Below is a copy of the letter:

November 19, 2007

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
Department of State
2201 C Street NW    » read more »

11/07/2007 -- Legislation that would phase out the use of private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan was unveiled Wednesday by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Jan Schakowsky. The bill would restore vital military functions to the military, reducing the reliance on unaccountable private security contractors in the war zones. As many as 48,000 heavily armed guards are among the private security contractors now operating in Iraq, performing sensitive functions that should be undertaken by U.S. military personnel.    » read more »

11/01/2007 -- WASHINGTON—Today Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) pressed the Bush Administration for more information about how size determinations were made before awarding Blackwater USA federal contracts. Last week, Senator Kerry inquired about a Small Business Administration (SBA) size ruling referenced in a Blackwater press release defending its classification of workers as independent contractors, not employees. The SBA provided some information on the size determination, but Senator Kerry says details on how the determination was made are still needed.    » read more »

01 November 2007 -- The U.S. State Department Thursday defended plans to begin forced assignments of diplomats to Iraq because of a lack of volunteers willing to serve there. It is the first time the U.S. diplomatic service has faced involuntary assignments since the Vietnam war.

Only about 50 positions in Iraq are to be filled through involuntary assignments out of a U.S. diplomatic corps that numbers more than 11,000 foreign service officers.    » read more »